


Liars

by DarkGothicLolita



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Brotp, Crack, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Crack, Jealousy, Romance, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:42:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 95,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27632923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkGothicLolita/pseuds/DarkGothicLolita
Summary: Fake it till you make it. Rating may change
Relationships: Gray Fullbuster/Lucy Heartfilia, Jellal Fernandes/Erza Scarlet, Levy McGarden/Gajeel Redfox, Meredy/Lyon Vastia, Natsu Dragneel/Juvia Lockser, Rogue Cheney/Minerva Orland
Comments: 36
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, Dark Gothic Lolita here!  
> This is a fresh new story of mine and of course it's another Navia story lmao. I also know that the summary was short, but I'm liking this minimalist idea of a short summary. I hope you guys are still drawn to it and read it!  
> Sorry for my poor grammar and spelling. I OBVIOUSLY don't own Fairy Tail  
> ENJOY!

**Liars**

**Chapter one**

Natsu rolled his eyes for what seemed to be the millionth time. The loving couple was acting a little too lovingly for him in front of him as he was eating his food. He felt a little put off, and even that was overkill for him. Nothing ever put him off of his lunch.

"So Natsu, you got any plans this weekend?"

It was a harmless question, a very normal question in fact. However, the wrong person was asking it. Gray was smirking over at his best friend as he had his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder.

Natsu gave him a sarcastic chuckle. "Yeah, how about you _fuck_ off?"

The girl sighed. "Natsu, do you always have to cause some sort of petty argument? Why can't you just reply _normally_?"

_"Because I was supposed to be your man, not this fucking prick."_

"I talk normally to normal people. That thing next to you ain't normal."

Lucy had to hold her boyfriend back from lashing out at him and Natsu snickered, suddenly feeling a lot better. He could see the vein on his forehead twitch and Natsu knew he got him good.

"C'mon Gray, don't stoop down to his level. At least not while we're at work. Please?"

Natsu's mood suddenly soured. The look she was giving Gray should have been reserved for _him_. Gray didn't deserve such an innocent and cute look. He was a fucking prick. Why couldn't she look like that at him? His bitterness was going to drive him insane one day.

Gray eventually sighed and sat back down with a nod as he kissed her forehead. Natsu clutched at his disposable chopsticks a little too hard as they snapped. The couple didn't even pay attention.

"You're right. He's just bitter that he doesn't have a girlfriend and I do."

Okay, THAT was fucking rude. Okay yes, so while it was true, it didn’t mean that he had to say something. Natsu felt some unknown anger rush through him as he felt fire in his veins. _He_ didn’t have anyone to stop him if he launched himself over the table and attack Gray, and he was really gonna fucking do it, but he decided not to all so that Lucy wouldn’t yell at him.

It also hurt that Lucy wasn't coming to _his_ defense, despite them being friends before she even met Gray. What made Gray so fucking special? There was no bigger regret than letting Lucy meet Gray.

"Fuck off Gray, being in a relationship isn't _everything._ Besides, I have a hot date. I didn’t wanna say anything cos it’s our first date. Can’t be jinxing that shit if it goes wrong.”

NOW Lucy's eyes were lit up. She leaned forward, suddenly intrigued by the girl that Natsu was taking out. Her breasts were resting on top of the table and she had left three of the top buttons undone. Natsu gulped, willing himself not to look and not to go red. Gray was a pain to fight when he was mad and the last thing he wanted to do was ogle his girlfriend, and even if he had had feelings for her since before the two of them even met.

"Oh?! We should go on a double date, right?! Who is she, where did you meet her? Why are we only hearing about this now, it's Thursday! You've been leaving us out of the loop a lot lately."

Natsu blinked before he sighed. The reason why he had been leaving them out of the loop was because he wasn't prepared to become a third wheel. It wasn't his fault his two best friends had decided to date. He was also screwed, because he was lying about having a date. The fact that they had even believed him was a shocker. Natsu himself was happy to admit it, he’s the worst liar known to man.

Well, he had to roll with it now. There was no _way_ he was going to tell them it’s a lie. Maybe he could play it off that he’s joking, but that would give Gray something to laugh about and that was the last thing he needed right now. He already took the girl he likes, he can’t be laughing at him for everything else too.

"It's the first date Luce, I barely know her. So the answer is no to your little double date. I don't think I can handle Gray's ugly face at dinner. I’m barely handling it right now."

"This coming from a dick who eats like an animal?!"

Both men glared at each other and Lucy sighed. Natsu sighed too and stood up, glancing down at his watch. They had 30 more minutes before the end of his lunch break. He had to get out for some fresh air. Well, _his_ kind of fresh air.

Looking at his food, he was pissed off that he had no appetite for it anymore. He was definitely going to make Gray pay for this at some point.

"Where are you going?"

He sighed mentally. She should just stop talking to him so that he could get over her. But he could never ignore her when she spoke to him.

"Out for a smoke."

She tutted at him and Natsu could already hear the judgement. She didn't like it when he smoked and while he told himself that one day he would stop for her, he knew he was lying. Still, he had to stop for himself and better his health while he was at it.

"You should really stop."

He chuckled as he grabbed his rubbish and threw it straight in the bin. He took the box out of his pocket and fished one out.

"You're right, I should."

And with that, he was gone. He burst out of the front of the building and lit up his cigarette. He put it to his lips as he slowly inhaled. He needed the nicotine to hit him nice and slowly. He leaned on the wall, head back as he exhaled the smoke. He was so mad that he didn’t go to the designated smoking area just outside the cafeteria. He didn’t want to have to talk to anyone.

"Natsu-san?"

So much for not wanting to talk to someone. He hadn't even realised that his eyes were closed. He opened them and lowered his head that was facing the sky. He was a little surprised when he saw a familiar bluenette in front of him. One that he hadn’t seen in a few months now.

"Juvia? Hey. I haven't seen you around in a while, you good?" A while being something like a year or so, now that he thought about it. 

The girl nodded before her eyes landed on his cigarette. For the first time ever, Natsu felt a little ashamed that he was smoking. It was no one's business with how he treated his lungs, but Juvia seeing the cigarette almost made him put it out. Almost.

"It's been really busy in the sales team, so Juvia has had a really heavy workload. She hasn't really had time to hang out with anyone. Plus, there’s been so many things happening in Juvia’s personal life like moving house. Juvia did try to message Gray at some point, but Juvia guesses that he’s also been...busy.”

Natsu chuckled as he removed the excess ash from the end of his cigarette before taking another drag. By the sounds of it, she was aware of his and Lucy’s relationship. Not like he was surprised. Juvia knew everything that was going on Gray’s life. What did that guy have that he doesn’t have? He had all these pretty girls after him and he never acknowledged them.

_“Well, he acknowledged Lucy I guess.”_

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Juvia nodded as she leaned on the wall next to him. It surprised him a little bit. They weren't the best of friends, so they never really had anything to talk about. However, he was sure that she was aware of his big crush on Lucy. He thought he was pretty good at hiding his feelings, but Juvia was really good at reading emotions. That was probably all he actually knew about her. He almost felt guilty for not trying to get to know her the same way that Gray got to know Lucy, but there was no time to dwell on the past.

"Juvia thought that Natsu-san had quit smoking," she said softly.

Natsu shrugged. Had it really been that long ago that he had told everyone that he was going to quit? He hadn’t seen Juvia in ages, so it was a surprise that she even knew that that was something he had planned on doing.

"So did I. I guess with the audits coming around, the financial team is panicking at a load of shit. It's getting to me, so I need something to take the pressure off." That and he seemed to smoke a lot more since the day he found out that Gray and Lucy were dating, but he didn’t want to sound pathetic.

Juvia laughed a little as she nodded. "And Natsu-san doesn't do pressure."

Natsu smirked as he nodded his head. "See, you get it! I don't do pressure and I don't take heartache well apparently.” He decided not to hide it from her. “I'm pretty sure you already know that Fuckbuster and Luce are together. Didn't even see it coming."

He looked back over at her and as expected, there was some sort of pained expression on her face. She was obvious as anything when it came to liking Gray. She had even asked him out before and the fucker didn't even give her a response.

"Yes, Juvia is aware...can Juvia get a cigarette too?"

Natsu's eyes almost popped out of his head. "Are ya kidding?! No, I don't want to be a bad influence on ya!"

Juvia rolled her eyes. "Oh just let Juvia have one and stop complaining! Please?"

She batted her eyelashes at him, trying to be cute and Natsu laughed before shrugging his shoulders. He had to admit, she _was_ pretty cute. Who was he to deny her request?

"Well don't look at me when you start hacking up ya lungs. Don't say I didn't warn ya."

"Yes, yes." She was impatient now and Natsu couldn’t help but chuckle. It felt like forever since he had really laughed with anyone and meant it.

He handed her a cigarette and as she reached for his lighter, he shook his head and pointed to his mouth. Juvia frowned before her eyebrows flew up un recognition. She put the cigarette up to her lips and he lit it up for her. It would have been semi romantic had the two of them been interested in each other.

Natsu watched as she took in an expert drag, even going as far to suck in some air through her teeth before releasing everything at once.

He laughed in disbelief. He tried to recall a time where he had seen her smoke in all the times that they had all hung out, but he drew up nothing but blanks. Maybe she had started recently?

"Now since when did you smoke?"

Juvia gave him a simple smile. "Juvia used to hang around with some shady people back in school. Juvia wasn’t really a bad kid, just easily impressionable. Because of that, Juvia has been smoking since she was...13 years old?"

Natsu let out a low whistle. "That's definitely young. I only started maybe at 16. My old man smokes so I guess I just started it. So you were a bad girl, huh?"

A blush appeared on her cheeks as she nodded, looking like she wanted to hide away from her past.

"Like Juvia said, she wasn’t a bad student, just easily impressionable. Juvia had to act tough to keep the real bullies away, that was the tactics. Besides, Juvia’s older brother would ruin anyone who tried to hurt Juvia, so Juvia was automatically lumped with bad people."

Natsu hummed, glancing down at his watch. Okay, he had 15 minutes left before he had to get back to work. Oddly enough, he was enjoying talking to Juvia. He had never spoken to her by himself. They always had their friends around them and even then, her attention was solely on Gray while his was on Lucy.

"Is Juvia keeping you?"

He shook his head a little. "Nah, I've got 15 minutes left. I’m in no rush to go back in there, trust me."

Natsu then took a good look at the girl next to him. She wasn’t looking at him, but rather the smoke stick in between her fingers. She was actually an attractive woman and you had to be blind to think otherwise. Attractive in a different way from Lucy. Lucy gave off good golden girl vibes that just drew you in, but also kind of made you treat her like glass. She was fragile but beautiful. She was also funny and a little violent when she needed to be.

Juvia gave off innocent but mysterious girl vibes. If Lucy was similar to the sun, then Juvia had to be similar to the moon. She was there but quiet. Always at the scene but blended into the background. She never let you know much about her unless you actually spoke to her to get to know her, then she was like an open book. She actually looked like she was crazy fun once you got to know her.

He could totally see her as a smoker back in school. However, she had since grown her hair out from the first time he met her and her azure hair cascaded down her back in waves. He liked her hair like this compared to the pixie cut that she had when they first met. Her equally cobalt blue eyes were cat shaped and extremely alluring. Natsu may not work in the same department as her to know whether she did or not, but he knew that she had a very curvy figure underneath that skirt suit that she was wearing.

Before he could even process what was happening, he had already opened her mouth to ask her something extremely stupid.

“Say, Juvia, you wanna go on a date with me this weekend?”

She almost dropped the cigarette on the floor, but managed to catch it in time without burning herself. Natsu jumped as well, surprised that the question had even left his lips in the first place. Her head snapped over to him as their eyes were wide, staring at each other. She looked like she was waiting for him to say more, but nothing came out of his mouth.

“W-what?!”

Natsu laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head. This was not the time to be stupid.

“W-well y’see! Gray and I got into an argument that almost turned into a fight-”

He was cut off by a chuckle as Juvia rolled her eyes and took a drag on her cigarette, signalling with her free hand that she should carry on. He shot her a sarcastic smile, but otherwise did as she had asked of him.

“Yeah, so we got into an argument which ended with me saying that I have a date this weekend.” He saw the look she was giving him and he felt the need to defend himself.

“What, he was making fun of me! He was saying that I’m bitter because he has a girlfriend and I don’t! I mean, he ain’t fucking wrong, it’s just that he’s with Luce and that’s why I’m bitter. If he was with you, I wouldn’t give a shit.”

Juvia let him rant and rave on about why he was pissed off with Gray, basically admitting out loud for the first time that he did indeed love Lucy and he had liked her for ages. She was actually shocked to learn that Gray _knew_ that Natsu likes Lucy, but the issue was that Natsu passed it off as a joke. She then started to wonder what it was that Lucy had that she didn’t have that made men flock to her.

She sighed which cut Natsu off as she stubbed the rest of the cigarette out on top of the bin that was specifically for the smokers area before binning the rubbish. She turned around to Natsu with a slight smile. One that couldn’t unfortunately fool him. She ignored him and shrugged her shoulders. She had been looking for a little excitement in her life as of late and this was the best thing that she could find. She was going to tell him that he should just lie about the situation, but she had heard from Gray and Lyon that Natsu wasn’t the best liar. How Lucy and Gray believed him this time surprised her.

“Juvia would be delighted to go on a date with Natsu-san. Of course to us it’s just a hangout, but if anyone asks, it’s a date, right?”

Natsu nodded eagerly, not hiding his shock when she agreed with him. He had definitely thought that she wasn’t going to agree to it. “R-right. You also don’t have to tell anyone else. I only ran my mouth to the icicle and Luce, no one else. I wouldn’t put it past the both of them if they decided to tell everyone that I have a date though. Luce seemed excited for me.”

Juvia’s face scrunched up. “Ouch. That’s painful.”

The two of them pushed themselves off of the wall as Natsu stuffed his hands into his pockets with a loud sigh and a nod.

“Fucking tell me about it! How could she be _happy_ for me?!”

Juvia rubbed his arm in sympathy. “Juvia is sorry. Maybe one day they’ll break up and then Natsu could swoop in?”

Natsu seemed to think about it before he shook his head. He also couldn’t help but notice she didn’t say anything about her swooping in to be with Gray. Maybe she had actually gotten over him all this time that she had been away.

“Yeah, maybe. Only if that day was next week. I don’t really wanna be pining after her any longer than necessary. Who knows, maybe I’ll meet a nice girl who’ll be more my type. My old man always tells me that some things just happen for a reason. Maybe we’re only good as best friends.”

He shrugged his shoulders and Juvia frowned. He seemed nonchalant, but she could tell that he was far from it. He was torn that his girl best friend who he was in love with had basically left him for his guy best friend. That was painful.

“For once, it sounds like Natsu-san said something intelligent. It seems like you have a brain in there after all.”

She knocked his head for good measure as he stood there frozen, insulted and amused by her insult. He looked at her as she had a playful grin on her face, one that he had never really seen before. Back in the day, she only had one emotion and that was lovesick. Natsu didn’t know much about her, other than her stalkerish ways and he certainly didn’t know that she had a sense of humour.

“Of course I’ve got a head, I’m on the finance teams for fuck sake! _I’m_ surprised you’re not crying a river right now because Gray and Luce are together.”

Her face went red, but she otherwise ignored the comment and pulled out her phone from her pocket to check the time. She then pulled up her keypad.

“Whatever. Anyway, Natsu-san should give Juvia a call regarding the details on Saturday. Juvia needs to be well prepared for whatever kind of date you have planned. You have two days, make it good.”

Natsu facepalmed when he remembered that he really did only have two days. “Fuck, I forgot it’s Thursday.”

Juvia was amused. “Which really makes Juvia’s point concrete, doesn’t it?”

He paused, trying to think about what the hell she was talking about before glaring at her. “Oh shut the fuck up.”

All that did was make the young woman laugh as he grabbed her phone and punched in his numbers into the keypad before using it to call himself. When they saved each other’s numbers, Juvia started walking away from him. 

“Juvia doesn’t really mind what we do on Saturday. Juvia doesn’t want to hassle you.”

Natsu furrowed his eyebrows. “Hassle me? I’m the one taking you out. Don’t worry, I’ll make it memorable for you.”

He watched as she looked at him over her shoulder. There was a certain way that she had gone about it that made her almost look like some sort of goddess of the sea. Her hair was literally the ocean and she was just...beautiful. 

“Juvia will be holding you to it. Enjoy the rest of your day, Natsu-san.”

And then she waved and headed to the lifts on the opposite side before she was gone. Natsu stood there for a few more seconds, wondering what he had seen was real before finally picking up his feet and using them to get into his own lift that took him to his department. He loosened his tie a little bit as he usually did after every lunch hour, but this time he felt like it was out of feeling a bit too hot. Eh, no use thinking about it.

He got up to the office that he shared with the rest of the financing team. Of _course_ he worked with Gray and Lucy. Him and Gray had been best friends/rivals since they were kids and he met Lucy later on in university as they were on the same course. Gray himself had gone to another university where he had met Juvia, but they still ended up in the same company, in the same department. Other than Juvia of course.

Lucy glanced up when she saw Natsu walking into the office and she turned up her nose dramatically. “You were gone for a really long time, Natsu. You really should just give up that disgusting habit. It can’t be good for you. Kami, you stink too.”

Natsu smirked as he sat down next to her. Ever since their line manager had found out Lucy and Gray were working, they weren’t really allowed to sit next to each other. This was the only time that Natsu got Lucy to herself as Gray was stuck on the other side of the room. However, it was annoying that their line manager was Erza, a childhood friend who had actually gotten a scholarship from the company itself as her grades were so exceptional. It boosted her right up to the place of being a manager.

“Aw c’mon Luce, gimme a break! I’ve been smoking for so long now and you never complained before. Why are you complaining now? It’s getting annoying.”

Lucy scowled at him and smacked his knuckles with her pen. She seemed to give him a look of satisfaction when he yelped in a bit of pain.

“Because it’s a disgusting habit!”

“Good thing I’m not your boyfriend.”

No, it _wasn’t_ a good thing, but he really thought long and hard about what he had said to Juvia. Originally, he had only said that he was going on a date so that it would get Lucy jealous. Then he realised that Lucy didn’t even like him in that way to get jealous in the first place, so it would just be a waste of time. While it would take some time, he was serious about getting over her. This wasn’t healthy, to be obsessing this long and hard over a girl who didn’t want him the same way he wanted her. He didn’t want to grow into an old man who never found the right girl for him just because he was looking back at some past love.

Lucy sighed and turned back to her computer screen, opening up the spreadsheet and her emails to see what her remaining task for the day was. 

“If you were my boyfriend, you wouldn’t even be smoking. You think Gray smokes?”

Okay, now Natsu was getting annoyed. At this point, he was more than ready to call over to Gray to switch seats with him, and he really would have, had Erza not walked into the room. Whatever he did was his own business, the same way that smoking was his own business. They all did things that helped them with stress, just like the simple fact that Gray was an exhibisionist. He could place his life savings on a bet that would prove Lucy was yet to find that out.

Instead of voicing his annoyance, he also focused on his computer screen. Well, he _tried_ to focus, but he was thinking about Juvia instead. Juvia hadn’t been judgemental at _all._ Maybe that was because she used to smoke. Or still did. Whatever. He actually felt bad that he had made her reduce herself to his level. He had never seen her smoke all the times that they had hung out as a big group, yet the moment they were alone, she didn’t even hesitate. She had better control than he did, that was for sure. He actually envied her for it. Maybe he should ask her for tips on how to stop.

“Yeah well, I’m here for a good time, not a long time.”

Lucy hummed. “Oh, so are you gonna tell me who this girl is that you’re going out with on Saturday? Or at least how did you meet?”

“You’re not gonna let this go, are ya? When did you and Gray tell everyone when you were dating? Hmm, by my calculations, you guys have been seeing each other for the last year and I only found out six months ago.”

She at least had the decency to look ashamed. “Okay, touche, but this is _you_ we’re talking about here! You’ve never expressed ANY interest in any girl, so this is really exciting that you actually have someone that you could really get into a relationship with! I’m just so happy for you!”

Natsu almost blew a gasket when he heard that. “I’ve never shown any...what the fuck? Actually, forget it. I don’t wanna talk about it.”

He turned his head away, his anger coming back full force. Did he not drop enough hints? Was he not being obvious whenever he invited her to places and it was just the two of them? Whenever she would mention Gray or Erza’s name, he would say no, just the two of them. Was that not enough? He had always thought that she was a bright girl and that she would be able to read into any situation, but boy was he _wrong._ He should have done what Gray did and that was just outright ask her out. It turns out Gray has more balls than him and that fucked him off to no end.

“No, say it. Something’s eating you. What’s up? Was it something I said?”

“Luce, I said I don’t wanna talk about it, so we’re not.”

He hoped that she at least understood his tone, if that was going to be the only thing that she understood about him. He watched her clamp her mouth shut as she nodded and turned back to face her work, the both of them now sitting in silence. He was grateful for that. This was going to be a long rest of the afternoon.

* * *

The work day had finally ended and everyone was packing up to leave. Natsu dropped off his paperwork to Erza who called him back. He looked at the door and sighed before turning on his heel and heading back towards her.

“How are you holding up? I mean, this is the most I could do, have you guys next to each other when working. I guessed that would be enough for you, right?”

Natsu just pinched the bridge of his nose. So Erza knew that he liked Lucy. He was so sure he wasn’t being obvious. “Yeah, I thought it would be great too. Unfortunately it’s been nothing but shit because it’s not like I can tell her to leave him and be with me, can I? Makes it more painful to sit next to her now, knowing that she’ll never be mine.”

Erza cringed. Her plan had backfired. Damn, she owed Mira some money now. Of course Mira was the real matchmaker when it came to love. 

“I’m so sorry Natsu, I wasn’t really thinking when I did that. Can you forgive me? Punch me if you need to.”

Natsu’s eyes widened in shock. “Erza, you’ve gotta stop with that shit! I’m not gonna punch ya! Especially not over something this stupid anyway. It’s cool, I’ll learn to get over it. Maybe this is good for me. It’s not like I can hide away from her or anything, gotta face this shit head on.”

“I like your style of thinking! Anyway, Gray tells me that you’re going on a date this weekend. Who’s the unfortunate girl?”

She was smirking at him and he shook his head with a smile. “None of your concern, Scarlet. Just testing the dating waters a little bit, y’know? I mean, I’ve never been on one and as Luce fucking put it, I’ve never shown interest in a girl before.”

Erza stared at him, gobsmacked. “Is she...was she being serious? There’s no way she actually missed all those signs of you technically asking her out,” she deadpanned. Lucy was always on the hunt, looking for guys to date. She went on many dates, but never found the right guy. She was good at reading signals, so why was she unable to read Natsu’s? 

Natsu shrugged. “It just goes to show that I really ain’t her type. Anyway, are we good here? I wanna go and buy some dinner before I get home.”

Erza nodded her head. “Sorry for keeping you. And again, sorry for putting Lucy next to you.”

Natsu just grinned and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, I ain’t mad. Anyway, see ya tomorrow?”

“Nope, I have a meeting with the other line managers. I’ll be pretty much holed up the whole day with them. Maybe next week Monday. Then you can tell me all about your date if it’s something worth mentioning.”

“Sure. Laters.”

He slung his backpack onto his back as he started making his way out of the building. There were still a few people who were staying behind to get things finished or people who started their shifts later and were therefore staying later as well. He had seen Lucy and Gray leave together and it was obvious that Lucy was getting a lift from her boyfriend. Natsu knew how to drive, but he didn’t drive to work. It cost him too much to drive into the city, whereas Gray and Lucy already lived in the city.

Just as he was about to fish out his phone and headphones to listen to some music, he saw a flash of blue not too far away from him. He realised it was Juvia once he got closer to and she seemed to be on the phone to someone.

“Yes, okay! Juvia will try and get something on the way home. Juvia thought she told Meredy-chan _never_ to cook again?”

She was silent before she started giggling. Natsu noted that all the times she had laughed and giggled, it actually sounded nice. She did so without any restraint or without any shame. 

“Okay, on the weekend, Juvia will help Meredy-chan cook something for Lyon-kun, okay? Just not Saturday evening, Juvia is going out. Juvia will tell you later, bye!”

He watched her hang up quickly, her face a little red and he knew it was because of their ‘date’ on Saturday. He grinned as he walked up behind her, placing his hand on her shoulder which made her almost jump out of her skin. She turned her head to see who had just scared her and when she saw the suspect, she placed her hand on her heart.

“Natsu-san! You scared Juvia!”

He laughed as he moved his hand away from her. “Sorry, you were so open, I had to do it.”

She pouted at him and that just made him laugh harder as they made their way out of the building. They both waved at the security on their way out. 

“That’s not funny, Juvia thought she was going to pass out!”

“All I’m hearing is that I should start scaring you more and more. Anyway, where are you heading? If you’re going to the station, we can walk together.”

Juvia nodded. “Juvia lives in East Crocus. She just recently moved to Magnolia town.”

Natsu got excited. They even lived in the same town! “No shit, I live there too! Born and raised.”

She turned to look at him in confusion. Natsu raised his eyebrow, ready for her question because it was obvious that she had one.

“What?”

“Juvia thought that Natsu and Gray lived together? You guys are childhood friends, yet Gray lives here in Central Crocus. How do you guys know each other?”

“Oh, because Gray’s a flashy boy living the good good bachelor's life. He decided to move to central to basically get more girls. Apparently it’s a lot easier to bring back girls from the club in Central than to the suburbs. So yeah, he moved here and I stayed in Magnolia Town. What about you, where did you move from?”

“Not far really. Juvia was born and raised in Oaktown. Juvia decided to finally move out of her parents’ home and find her own. So Juvia ended up finding a really nice cosy place in Magnolia Town with her best friend. It’s really nice so far, though we haven’t really had the time to explore. Well, Juvia hasn’t because she’s been so busy with work and Meredy works in Magnolia Town, so she has more of an opportunity to explore.”

Natsu nodded. “Then I guess that settles it then. We’re exploring Magnolia then. I can show you around the place. Sound good?”

Juvia nodded. She was a simple girl who only wanted the simple things in life. She didn’t ask for much and she certainly didn’t ask for much from a guy that wasn’t her boyfriend. This was basically a fake date because Natsu couldn’t keep his mouth shut, but they were rolling with it. It was casual.

“Juvia likes the idea of that! But Natsu-san has to give Juvia some time to at least plan some sort of outfit for the evening.”

“Just wear anything casual. Maybe shoes that are good for walking. Luce always shows up to places in damn heels and then complains when we gotta walk loads. It’s really annoying.”

Juvia smiled. “Have no fear. Juvia doesn’t own many heels, so it will be rare to see Juvia out in them. Juvia and her older brother always go out on walks, but he’s busy with his own shop these days, so we barely get to hang out. Only when we go home for a family dinner.”

“Oh, your brother owns a business? That’s cool. What does he do?”

“He owns a tattoo and piercing parlour in Magnolia.”

Natsu was about to compliment him before his jaw was left swinging. No. It couldn’t be who he was thinking. He then turned to stare at her properly as they were walking and he could tell that he was making her a little uncomfortable, but she wasn’t saying anything.

After a while, she sighed and decided to end his staring.

“Is there something wrong?”

“Very. If you’re the sister to the bastard that I think you are, then there’s something very wrong.”

Juvia held her hand over her mouth so that she didn’t laugh to loud out in public. That was pretty much the reaction of everyone whenever they found out who her older brother was.

“Judging by the reaction, Juvia can say that Natsu-san is probably thinking of the right person.”

He cursed. “Fuuuuuck, that tin can is your brother?! You don’t look alike at _all._ ”

“Juvia is aware. We are full blooded siblings and many people don’t believe us until they see our family together. Juvia’s brothers both look like our dad and Juvia got her looks from our mother. It’s a typical reaction. People used to think we were together whenever they saw us. It was hard convincing them all that Gajeel-kun was Juvia’s older brother.”

Natsu let out a low whistle. “Damn, that’s tough. It’s even tougher being related to him I’m guessing.”

“Juvia...survived. It’s also the reason why she was such a bad girl in school. Gajeel-kun ran the school so Juvia got away with murder.”

“Let me guess, Phantom?”

“Yep! For Natsu-kun to know that...Fairy Tail?”

“You know it. Damn, we really run in the same circle huh? That’s cool though. Oh, I’ve been itching to ask, how did you quit smoking? I’ve been tryna quit, but it hasn’t really been working out well.”

He scratched the back of his head and Juvia winked at him. “To be completely honest, it’s not like Juvia has actually quit. She just goes really long without having one. Juvia just started with smoking less in a day and then it just happened from there. Juvia never really went cold turkey, just cut down on her intake. It’s like cutting back on sugar. People think they can’t do certain things and then they get themselves worked up and then go back to smoking.”

Natsu nodded slowly as he saw the method to the madness and then grinned. “Okay then, starting from tomorrow I’m gonna cut down! Not fully stop, but cut down. Is that what I got from that?”

“Natsu-san’s got the right idea. Just cut down and everything is plain sailing from there.”

“Sweet. By the way, stop being so formal with me. Just Natsu is fine, we’re practically friends anyway. Right?”

He was looking deeply in her eyes as if he were looking for some sort of validation from her. Juvia could feel the heat build up within her from him staring at her for too long. It always happened when someone looked at her for too long. She felt that they were looking for imperfections that they could try and make her insecure with later on.

“Right. Juvia will try to not put any honorifics at the end. Sorry, Juvia is sometimes still shocked that she had friends.”

They had reached the train station at this time and paid with their transportation cards and waited on the platform for their train that would take them all the way to Magnolia. 

“You? Have no friends? Why, because of Gajeel? Did he scare them all off back when you guys were younger?”

He meant it as a joke, but he almost choked when Juvia nodded at him, looking a little sad almost.

“Because Gajeel-kun was so scary, many people had heard of his reputation and did their best to keep away from Juvia so that he wouldn’t beat them up. Juvia hung out with his friends, but he was two years above Juvia, so when he left school, Juvia only had one friend. Then Juvia met Meredy two years before we finished school, so it wasn’t too bad having two friends. It was only really in university that Juvia started making her more friends. It is still hard to believe that anyone classes Juvia as a friend.”

Without any warning, Natsu slung an arm over her shoulders and pulled her in. She squeaked a little at the unexpected contact and she was smushed against his side. She placed her hands on his chest to push away from him, but she was stopped. Her hand had come into contact with something hard and she failed to believe that that was his _muscle._

Luckily, he was distracted to realise what she was doing.

“Psht, as if your bastard brother could _ever_ stop me from being friends with you! He can definitely try, but I’ll fucking knock him out. Bet on that.”

She stared up at him and two things came to mind when she looked at him. The first thought was that Natsu is crazy. Like batshit crazy and she wasn’t sure if this was crazy fun or if this was the sort of fun that she should be running away from because it would get her killed.

The second thought was that Natsu was so handsome. Not in a tall dark and handsome way, oh no. That was more Gray’s area of expertise. His eyes were sharp and alert and his energy just oozed out of him and affected everyone around him. He may act stupid, but he was really perceptive of many things around him. He also knew how to make people feel included. Juvia smiled up at him. Yeah, he was crazy fun.

“Juvia will hold Natsu to that then.”


	2. Chapter 2

Natsu always made time for breakfast in the morning. He was a morning person who liked to get up early and head to the gym before starting his day. It was a routine that had been instilled in him from young. His parents were early risers as well, so it made sense for the rest of the family to be early risers too. His older brother was one and so was his younger sister.

He had learnt that many of his co workers didn’t actually make time for breakfast in the morning and he thought that was ironic because he lived further out than a good load of them. Maybe because he was happy to saunter in at any time between 9 and 10 because Erza is his line manager. He could get away with murder as long as it was within reason and he did his job.

Just as he was getting ready for work, he realised that although him and Juvia lived in the same town, he had never actually seen her at the train station before. What time did she leave? Did she arrive later than him or go earlier than him? 

He glanced down at his phone, wondering whether or not he should call her. Maybe she worked from home on Fridays like many people did. He personally couldn’t do that. His home was for resting, he would get no work done.

“Ah fuck it.”

He searched for her number that he had saved the previous day and pressed it without even hesitating. They seemed to get on alright together, it wouldn’t be awkward on the phone. Well he hoped it wouldn’t be. It was so weird that they had the same group of friends, yet they never interacted much with one another. And Natsu thought of himself to be a really big people’s person.

“Good morning Natsu!”

He grinned at how chirpy she sounded. Okay, so she was definitely a morning person like him then.

“Mornin’. I was just wondering what time you get the train? I’ve never seen ya and I thought maybe we should walk together if you ain’t working from home or whatever.”

He heard her hum before she spoke up again. “Usually, Meredy-chan drops Juvia off at the station in the mornings, so Juvia has to work on her morning schedule which means she gets the ten past eight train, but Juvia is more than happy to get the train with Natsu.”

There was something that kind of made his heart feel warm at that. Juvia was more than happy to change her whole morning routine, just so that they can get the train together in the mornings? That sounded like something she would do. She was oozing with niceness.

“If you’re sure. I mean, I don’t wanna ruin your routine ‘n’ stuff.”

“Natsu isn’t ruining anything. It will be a nice change of the morning instead of just being lonely on the train. What time does Natsu usually get to the station? Juvia will try and plan her walk time accordingly.”

Natsu couldn’t keep the grin off of his face. She sounded so professional in everything she was doing. Well, he wasn’t surprised. She worked in sales and it must be a lot of work to plan things right. They had very strict deadlines. 

“I usually get there between 8:15 and 8:20. Train leaves at 8:25. Sound alright?”

“Sounds great! Natsu sounds really lively. Juvia takes it that Natsu is a morning person?”

He nodded his head even though she couldn’t see him as he was picking out a ready made meal that he had picked up at the supermarket. Hopefully the fucking couple wouldn’t put him off of his food this time around and he would actually get to eat all of it.

“Yeah, I went to the gym this morning and pumped some weights and stuff. I like mornings.”

He heard her gasp. “Oh, does the gym have a swimming pool? Juvia would love to join if that’s the case! At first when Juvia moved here, she was planning on driving back to Oaktown to use the leisure centre there, but she decided against it. Well, it’s not like Juvia had much of a choice actually, a bus totaled her car while she was parked on the high street. Juvia decided not to get another car with the insurance’s money.”

Natsu’s eyes widened as he paused. “Oh holy shit! You good? Well, were you okay?”

“Juvia’s fine, she wasn’t in the car. Juvia needed to stop off at the bank and when she came back, the bus literally rammed straight into it. That will teach Juvia to park by a bus stop again.”

“Fucking hell, that sounds manic.” He finally grabbed something that looked good and placed it in his backpack. He then remembered her question.

“But yeah, they’ve got a swimming pool there. The leisure centre’s amazing. Huge gym, big pools with diving boards and a running track out the back. I can make it a place where we stop off at tomorrow.”

“Oh thank you! If there’s anything that Natsu wants Juvia to do for him, say the word and Juvia will try her best to see if she can do it.”

Something perverted popped up in his head when she said that and he snickered mentally. Juvia was so innocent, he doubted that she would be on the same kinky level as him. That and he didn’t know where she stood with perverted jokes. She might not find it funny and their ‘date’ tomorrow might not even happen.

“Why are you offering?”

“Because Natsu is already planning to do so much for Juvia! Natsu is helping Juvia settle into Magnolia and she’s really grateful! So thank you.”

He hummed. “No problem. There is one thing you can do for me though. Tell your lazy brother he still needs to finish my sleeve and he ain’t fucking answering my calls.”

“Oh, Natsu has a tattoo?”

“Tattoo _ s _ more like. But yeah, I've gotta few. Man I hate the guy’s attitude, but he’s the fucking best tattooist that I’ve come across since he moved here. Don’t you dare tell the bastard I said that.”

Juvia giggled and it honestly sounded like music in his ears. 

“Your secret is safe with Juvia. Juvia does admit that he is a lot better now ever since he met his girlfriend. The reason why he’s not answering his calls could be because he’s got a different phone number now. Juvia can give it to you when we meet up at the station. But Juvia would really like to see Natsu’s tattoos!”

He chuckled as he made sure that all the lights and everything that didn’t need to be on was all switched off. Grabbing his keys, he made his way to the door, slamming it shut behind him so that he could start his journey for the station. It didn’t take him that long to walk, 15 minutes tops.

“The only way you’re gonna see them is if you get me shirtless first, Juvia.”

He could already imagine her face now. From what he knew of Juvia, she was easy to rile up. Get her flustered, get her blushing, it was as easy as a,b,c. At first it used to worry him, the amount of blood that rushed to her face. He was wondering if there was any other blood in her body to keep her going. Afterwards, he found it hilarious. Yet when it came to Gray, she was shameless at confessing her love everyday.

“N-Natsu! That’s not funny!”

He laughed even harder. “I think it is! I can already imagine your face! You’re definitely as red as fire.”

“Ah, Natsu is so  _ mean _ ! It’s not Juvia’s fault she blushes so easily, leave her alone!”

“I’ll leave you alone for now I guess. But tomorrow, I’ll be playing a personal game. See how many times I can get Juvia to blush before the night is over.”

“Juvia will faint,” she said weakly.

“I’ll do it within reason. Anyway, I’m on my way to the station, see you there?”

“Unfortunately, yes. See you there!”

They both hung up and Natsu couldn’t help the grin on his face. Did he like Juvia? No, definitely not in the same way that he liked Lucy. That wasn’t possible. He had liked Lucy for so long now that it was kinda hard to just not like her anymore. While he was doing his best to let her go, it was going to take some time.

Did he think that Juvia would be a really good friend? Oh yes. Chill, didn’t nag and easy to fluster. He found himself almost acting like his childish self around her. That was cool.

* * *

The first half of the day had been eventful in an annoying way. It turns out that Gray and Lucy  _ did  _ spread his business around the place, so he had nothing but looks of approval or a thumbs up. At first he was doing it back to them, but when the sixth person had done it, it was getting old. Why were they all giving him a thumbs up? What the fuck was happening?

“Why is everyone putting their thumbs up at me today?”

At least Lucy looked ashamed. It was easy to tell from there that the couple had told everyone that they knew about his upcoming date and they were all happy for him. He was already 26 and he hadn’t been on a date before. Everyone was wondering if he was okay or not, so they were all excited for him. He gave the couple a sour look.

“You just couldn’t keep it to yourselves, couldya?”

Gray didn’t look too fussed with his bitterness. “Come off it, flame brain. Let people be excited for ya. I personally feel sorry for the girl you’re taking out, but hey, she probably already knows what she’s getting herself into.”

Natsu rolled his eyes as he continued eating. He wasn’t  _ too  _ bothered by it. For now. He didn’t really know anyone that lived near him that would end up seeing him with Juvia and then telling the whole wide world. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed to be going on a date with Juvia, but more like it wasn’t really a date. It was almost like a pity date. Again, because he opened his mouth without thinking and got Juvia involved. He’s gonna blame Gray for the whole situation, the prick wound him up.

“But can you at least tell us how you guys met? That’s what I want to know! Where did you meet this girl! You don’t have to tell us what she looks like or anything like that, I just want some backstory.”

Ah yes, of course. Lucy did take that creative writing course back in uni. She did have dreams to become a writer on the side of whatever job she was going to do and she was a huge sucker for romance stories. Natsu sighed, giving into her like he always did. That was going to be a very hard habit to break. Lucy would say ‘jump’ and Natsu would be ready with the ‘how high?’ question. Really pathetic doing that for a girl who wasn’t his girlfriend.

Natsu decided to actually think back to  _ how  _ he had first met Juvia and was stumped. It was all because of Gray and he didn’t want them to really know that it was a girl that they all knew. Knowing Lucy, she would tell Erza and then Erza would use her power to snoop around every department trying to find out who this girl was. No doubt there had to be  _ someone  _ who had seen them together both smoking yesterday and on their way to the station.

He could easily say he didn’t remember, but then Lucy would badger him to at least try or they would think he was lying just to get them off his back again, which could probably cause another argument and more stupid comments to fly. He was so sick and tired of all that right now.

_ “Think Natsu, think! What did you guys all do when you met up?” _

Okay, so Juvia had met Gray at his university and Natsu had met Lucy at his. He could have groaned at the whole situation. It was almost like a mirror.

Then Natsu and Gray were gonna hang out one day, Erza was coming with her boyfriend, so everyone decided to bring some sort of plus one. It turns out that Juvia and Jellal are  _ cousins _ and that almost made Natsu flinch. If Erza found out his date was Juvia, she would start singing about how they’re family. No. Just, no.

Juvia and Lucy actually already knew each other too. Well, very vaguely. Juvia's swim coach was Lucy's mum’s best friend. Phantom's swim team was actually good enough to go to the finals every year where they would go against all the schools in central Crocus. Their schools were rivals and he was dead sure that the friendship that their mother’s shared wasn’t transferred onto their kids. He was also pretty sure that Juvia had called Lucy her love rival because she noticed that Gray and Lucy were glancing at each other that day. Natsu didn’t think much of it at the time and now he wished he had listened, instead of thinking that she was crazy.

_ “Okay, I’ve got all of that, but what did we meet up and do again? Oh yeah, ice skating.” _

“We met at the ice rink.”

Natsu saw the way Gray sat up at that and almost punched himself. Gray was a huge fan of any sport ice and snow related. By fan, he meant obsessed. Be it ice hockey or ice skating to skiing and snowboarding. The dude loved it all. It only made sense, it’s how his parents met. 

“You don’t even ice skate, so what the hell were  _ you  _ doing at a rink?”

Natsu shrugged. Although he was a crappy liar, his lies were better when there was at least a small element of truth in it. Which is why he has to at least do  _ something  _ with Juvia tomorrow, so that they couldn’t see that he was faking it.

“Don’t forget, Wendy’s a figure skater. I was picking her up from her practice when I saw this girl. She was pretty cool. We just got to talking while I was waiting for Wendy to change up and we just exchanged numbers.”

His younger sister, Wendy is actually a figure skater. She was really good at it as well. While he may not have actually met Juvia the way he said he did, he did at least meet her at the ice rink four years ago.

Gray sat back with a shrug, accepting it and Lucy’s eyes were sparkling. She looked like she wanted to know more, but Natsu shook his head which made the blonde pout. Natsu’s heart almost lurched out of his chest as he had to look down and focus on his food.

“No more questions Luce, you got what you wanted.”

She sighed and went back to eating her food. Natsu thanked whatever greater being was out there and continued eating his lunch.

“Oh yeah, seeing as you’re busy tomorrow, you wanna come out tonight and get fucked? It’s not a proper night out to the club, just a few of us guys all going for a piss up when we finish work. You in?”

Natsu sat back in his seat and thought about it. While he wasn’t as crazy as he used to be when he was in university, it wouldn’t hurt to go out for a drink, right? He was a fairly good drunk, never spilled any secrets when he was wasted. It wasn’t like he would open his mouth and go blabbing to everyone that his date was indeed Juvia. Besides, it had been a very long time since he hung out with the guys, especially those from their younger days who had all moved on. Adulthood was a bitch.

“Yeah, why not? You said that it’s just us guys, who else is coming?”

“Loke, Alzack, Jet, Droy. I think Lyon might try and crash in on it too.”

Gray rolled his eyes at the thought of his twin brother wanting to come and ruin his idea of fun. Lyon and Gray fought the same way Gray and Natsu fought, only it was a bit more personal when they were fighting it out. Lyon also had this huge crush on Juvia the last time he had seen him.

“Yeah sure, I’ll come.”

“You better not be taking the car. If you guys are going straight from work, then I better drive your car to mine or something. I’m not having you drink drive.”

There was a sharp glint in Lucy’s eyes that suggested that Gray had done it before. He blushed a little bit and Natsu gawked in horror.

“You bastard, you were drink driving?!”

“Would you fucking lower your voice?! I was only supposed to have one drink and it turned into a few! I didn’t really want to leave my car there because I didn’t know the area too well, but we also had work the next day. I drove like halfway before I realised I was too fucked and called Lucy. She got one of her dad’s drivers to drop her off and she drove me back to hers. No big deal.”

Lucy turned her head and started jabbing him in the chest as she was giving him a piece of her mind while he looked like he was close to kissing her to shut up. Natsu sighed. 

_ “And people call ME the idiot. Gray is just a broody bastard, but he’s still stupid as fuck. I’m just louder with it.” _

“-You have absolutely no common sense sometimes!”

“And I’m sorry babe. So because I’ve learnt my lesson, I took the train into work today. Who knew it was that close by train? I might even end up doing it everyday, it was way smoother than getting in by car. I wasn’t stuck in any traffic, it was amazing. Natsu, I can’t believe you hogged the train journey life all to yourself.”

Natsu threw him an incredulous look. “Are ya fucking with me right now? You  _ moved  _ to Central Crocus, of course it’s gonna be easy for you to get in! I’m coming all the way from Magnolia you idiot. Besides, I did tell ya it would be easier for you to commute, but you said you wanted to drive because at the time you had just gotten your car brand new. You wanted to get some driving out of it.”

_ “And show off to Luce, despite her family being mega rich already.” _

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Hmm, Maybe I will still drive in then.”

Natsu rolled his eyes and he felt his fingers itch towards his cigarette box. He had wanted to start today with seeing how long he could go without one, but he had done quite well already. Usually, he would have had maybe four by lunch, but he had only had two. He had one before he started work and then one later on. Already he felt like he was doing a lot better.

_ “I wonder if Juvia will be out there again?” _

Well, he had finished his lunch now, there was no point sitting there and waiting for the pair of them. It would just be easier to go out and get his ‘breath of fresh air’ now and see if Juvia will come by. He might as well leave the couple to do whatever it is they do whenever he’s not around them.

“I’m going out for a smoke.”

He saw their disapproving looks and he expertly ignored them. He was lucky that they hadn’t decided to voice their opinion on the matter. Good, because it’s not like he was going to listen anyway.

He stood up with an obnoxious grin before making his way out to the designated smoking area. That could have also been a good story to use instead of the ice skating one. He could have said that he met his mystery out in the smoking area, because that was technically the first time they had spoken together without there being a group of their friends.

When he got out there, he saw a few people finishing up and stubbing out their cigarettes on the smokers bin before giving him a polite smile and heading in for the rest of their lunch break. Natsu pulled out a cigarette and his lighter before lighting one up and taking a swift drag on it. He felt everything within him loosen up as he uncurled out of his tense state. It felt good sometimes.

“There you are.”

He opened his eyes that he hadn’t even realised he had closed yet again and he smiled at the familiar face. The girl smiled back at him and sat down on the empty bench next to him. He offered her a cigarette from his box and she happily took one.

“Maybe Natsu was right. Maybe he is a bad influence for Juvia. This is her second cigarette in two days. Juvia has never smoked two consecutive days in the last two years.”

Natsu laughed a little. “Well, don’t say I didn’t warn ya. You’re the one who was bragging about how much of a bad girl she is. At the end of the day, I’m still the kinda guy your mum warns you about. I just know how to hide it really well.”

She rolled her eyes at him, but otherwise had the same smile on her face that he could have sworn widened a little bit.

“Where do you have your lunch? I never see you in the cafeteria, yet you come out to the smoking area the moment that I do. You’re not stalking me are ya?”

He gave her a dangerous smirk as she gave him a glare in return. She was notoriously known for stalking Gray back in university. It was the one thing he complained about the most.

“The sales team have their own kitchen and lounge room. Why come out to the cafeteria when Juvia is happy to watch TV and eat at the same time?”

Natsu’s jaw dropped when he heard what she had in her own department. Erza would  _ never  _ let that fly! A TV? Never. Everyone would never get their work done and they would be in front of it all day. Especially if all the guys decided that they wanted to chip in and get a game console for the finance department.

It was Juvia’s turn to smirk when she saw his reaction and she was satisfied that she got him back. “As for the stalking thing...well it took Juvia many years to get it out of her system, but Juvia can finally say that she no longer does that. Especially not for a guy that was never and will never be her man. That was definitely one of Juvia’s biggest embarrassing moments and probably also another reason on the long list of why Gray never liked Juvia.”

She seemed to sigh at that and Natsu nodded his head in understanding. If there was one thing Gray and Lucy’s relationship got him wondering about, it was himself. He wondered if there was something undesirable about him that not only put Lucy off of him, but maybe it will put future women off of him as well.

“Yeah, it makes you a little insecure, right? It got me thinking about what was wrong with me too. Maybe Lucy didn’t like how headstrong I am. I don’t really think before I talk or do anything really. I’m pretty impulsive and loud, so I don’t really know when to shut up. I guess she doesn’t like that sort of thing in a potential partner, but she was happy to be friends with me.”

Juvia moved a little closer to him and patted his hand, understanding what he meant completely. He was grateful for the gesture, because at least knew that he wasn’t alone in this shitty feeling. It made him feel better.

“Well, Juvia thinks that you shouldn’t change for anyone. Gray..was a little cold. Juvia tried to convince herself that he was like that with everybody, but Juvia feels like he was only like that with Juvia. He never really showed any outward emotions. Well, positive ones anyway. He rarely ever laughed unless it’s at the fact that Lyon-kun hurt himself or something bad happened to him and Gray mocked him for it. You can never really tell if he enjoys something. Like Juvia threw him a surprise party for his 20th and his reaction made it look like he knew about it because it was so bland, but when Juvia asked, he said he was actually completely surprised. Juvia wears her heart on a sleeve, so she would at least like to see some emotion.”

She sighed as she took a drag of her cigarette and Natsu understood where she was coming from. He ruffled his hair and shook his head. 

“Oh well, it’s not something I wanna keep on thinking about, it’s time to move on, right?”

Juvia nodded her head enthusiastically. “Yes, Natsu is right! It’s time to move on! We don’t need them anymore, we apparently have each other.” 

She gave him a pointed look to which he responded with a nervous laugh. Juvia blinked before she laughed with the shake of her head.

“What lie have you gone and told  _ this  _ time?”

Natsu looked hurt, even though he had no right to be. Was she accusing him of lying again without any proof? Even though he did lie again about something?

“Okay, how do you know that I’ve gone and lied again?”

“That nervous look on your face was more than enough for Juvia to know that Natsu has gone and lied yet  _ again _ . So go on, tell Juvia what you’ve said. After all, if this includes Juvia, she needs to know so that there are no plot holes in our little story.”

Natsu rolled his eyes. He hated that she was right. He also found it strange that she was more than happy to go along with whatever he was telling his friends.

“Okay, spit it out. Why are you so ready to go along with all of my fuck ups? Why are you condoning it instead of telling me how much of a fucking idiot I am and trying to get me to stop? Any other person would have been trying to get me to go in there and tell them the truth, but you’re not. So what gives?”

Juvia looked at him with the tilt of her head and he couldn’t help but notice how good she looked at that angle. Her neck exposed, her porcelain skin glittering. Juvia really is hot and so far, he was reminded every time they’ve been together. He also noticed that she had put her hair up in a high ponytail and it was probably because she was working her butt off right now. She even had a pair of glasses perched on top of her head. She looked like a fuckable pornstar librarian. He mentally groaned at himself

_ “I swear I’ve never been this perverted before. Damn I must be fucking horny.” _

“Because Juvia thinks it’s funny. She also needs something fun to do while we’re in the middle of our audit. Juvia swears that she will go crazy before this is all over, so this is like some sort of entertainment for Juvia. Like an escape from reality. Is Natsu following along?”

“Yeah, yeah, I understand. I guess I should say thanks then. If it’s any consolation, I think that Gray is missing out on a great girl. Sometimes I feel like Lucy is my big sister and not someone I like. Her constant nagging at the way I do things was just getting to me. I guess that’s how I even ended up smoking a lot more. It was never this bad before.”

Juvia blushed at the compliment as they both stubbed out their cigarettes. A few more people had come out to join them, so they decided to head into the building. Yet again, Gray and Lucy were gone, but it didn’t seem to bother Natsu. He checked his watch and noticed that they had come in earlier than yesterday. They still had 20 minutes left.

“Oh yeah, I still haven’t told you my little story on how we met.”

Juvia raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“I picked up my sister from her figure skating practice and you and I got talking while I was waiting for you. That’s pretty much it, I didn’t mention anything else. Oh, other than we got each other’s numbers.”

Juvia nodded her head slowly. “So you didn’t mention any dates or anything? How long have we been texting for? And what’s Natsu’s sister’s name? Juvia didn’t even know that Natsu had any siblings.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I’ve got an older brother and a younger sister. I live with my brother Zeref, though he’s rarely home because he’s always away for the job that he does. I pretty much have the house to myself. We moved out just so we could have more freedom and not rely on our parents. Our mum is really nosey, I hated that. Then my younger sister is Wendy and she’s 19.”

Juvia snickered before pointing at the lifts in her direction of the building. “Do you want to come with Juvia? We’ve still got another 20 minutes or so and our lounge is pretty nice. That’s only if Natsu wants to, of course.”

Natsu paused and looked to where she was pointing. He then looked down at her as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, almost as if she were shy. 

_ “Fuck, she’s a cutie.” _

He nodded his head, following her lead. “Lead the way then.”

~x~

“What the hell, you’re back from lunch late. Where the hell were you?”

With Erza not in the office at this time of the afternoon, the team pretty much did what they wanted at their own pace. Just as long as they actually got their work done of course. But that meant that Gray and Lucy liked to sit next to each other at least.

Gray was sitting on Lucy’s desk as they were both waiting for his reply and he just shrugged, not really finding the energy within him to lie. The sales team lounge was amazing. You could really tell that it had a woman’s touch to the place as they were in charge of the designing and it always smelt fresh, but the guys also had their own touches too. There was a music system and game consoles that seemed to litter the place. It reminded him of uni.

“I lost track of time in the smoking area I guess. It’s not like I wanted to come back to be the third wheel to you guys, so I try to be gone for as long as I can.”

They both blushed at his words and he smirked. Turning his screen back on, he noticed that he had received an email from Erza. Opening it straight up, he read it quickly, his eyebrows shooting up. From next Monday, she was giving him some sort of new project and he had to pick someone in the sales team that he would like to work with. She had already attached all the files as well as his checklist that he needed to do and when it was all due.

It wasn’t rare that Erza would hand out projects to people. Every so often, she would give projects for two people to work on. Most of the time, they were projects for people from different departments to do together. They were very rarely for the same people in the same department. It was a good way to get to know the other people that you worked with and not just those in the same room as you.

Now it was his turn and what better luck than to pick someone from the sales team? He wasn’t sure if this was a wild coincidence or if Erza had sneakily seen him start hanging out with Juvia. Either way, he was pretty grateful that he was able to work with her. 

“What are you reading so intently there? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you spend so long on an email before. You just skim read them and hope for the best.”

Lucy was craning her neck round to see and Natsu moved his monitor so that she could read it better. The couple were both reading it and Lucy clapped her hands in excitement.

“Oh wow, it’s your turn for a project! I heard that when you ace a project, it means that you can also get a promotion if you have enough under your belt. Who are you going to pick to work with you?”

He almost opened his big mouth and said ‘Juvia,’ but the couple weren’t really supposed to know that the two of them were close. Instead, he pretended to look thoughtful before giving up on trying to think about someone to work with.

“I don’t know yet, I don’t really pay attention to where people are and what departments they’re in. I’ll just head down there on Monday and pick out the first person I see and work with them.”

Lucy nodded. “I think Bisca is the line manager to that department, from what I’ve heard from Erza anyway. They’re like best friends, right?”

Gray and Natsu shuddered as Gray explained. “Thank Kami they are now. They used to  _ hate  _ each other back when we were children. They then somehow became the best of friends when we were 15, but we don’t know what was worse. Them hating each other or them being almost the same person and becoming best friends.”

Natsu nodded. “It was horrifying.”

Lucy rolled her eyes at how dramatic they were being as she was trying to remember who else was in the sales team department. Eventually she gave up.

“To be honest, even I don’t really know who’s in that department. I’m sorry I couldn’t help out in the end.”

Natsu raised an eyebrow at her and Gray shrugged his shoulders to show that he was equally as useless as his girlfriend. Natsu almost slapped their heads in shock. How could they forget Juvia?! Even  _ he  _ knew before he spoke to Juvia yesterday that she worked in the sales department, did they not focus on anything apart from each other? Did Gray really just cut Juvia out of his life like that?

Before, Gray would always complain that Juvia was way too clingy for a girl that he wasn’t even dating and he used to threaten that he would cut her off. It appeared as if he had actually gone out of his way to cut her off now. None of their other friends ever spoke about her. He thought that maybe it had been a year since he had seen Juvia, but it looked like it was the same for Lucy and Gray here too. He felt guilt build in his heart.

_ “Juvia did mention that she texted him and the way she made it sound, I don’t think he ever replied. Fucking hell.” _

“Yeah, well don’t hurt yourselves trying to think about it. I’ll just go on Monday to find a partner to work with. If you see less of me, you probably know why as well.”

The only reason he said that was because he was planning on spending as much time as he could in their department. They had a lounge for fuck sake! He had absolutely no reason suffering in his own dry environment when there was one where he could flourish in.

Gray looked like he was going to punch him for his comment about trying not to hurt himself, but Lucy just held him back and shook her head as they continued on with their work. Natsu just smirked. Maybe it was a good idea to have his animal and his tamer in the same place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that chapter satisfied everyone for the week! Thanks to those who left kudos and to the lovely comment that I also received on the first chapter! I hope that I can continue to make this an enjoyable read for those who read it! Also, I don't have an office/corporate job so the whole thing with the project was made up and I have no personal experience with it. I won't really go into too much detail about the workload itself, so I can save myself some embarrassment.
> 
> Also, I'm not sure if I said anything in chapter 1, but this will be updated every Thursday.
> 
> Lolita-chan


	3. Chapter 3

Natsu was waiting for Juvia in a more central place to meet. He had originally planned to drive her around the place, but he decided against that when he remembered that she no longer had a car. It would be useless not getting to see everything on foot. That and he had just about gotten over his hangover, so he didn’t exactly trust himself behind the wheel. He couldn’t remember a single thing from the night before and how he actually made it all the way home from a bar in Crocus Central worried him. 

Eventually, he saw Juvia in the distance and he found himself smiling as she waved to him. He waved back so that they would look like idiots together on the street and he decided to walk and meet her halfway.

“In all honesty, I’m dead surprised that you came in the end.”

Juvia scoffed as Natsu led her in a direction. “Are you kidding? Juvia is ready for the most informative date of her life. Juvia will even happily call this a tour instead of a date. Especially if dinner at the end is all inclusive.”

She batted her eyelashes at him as if to get him to cave, but all it did was make him burst out laughing. Juvia pouted with her hands on her hips. 

“Hey, it’s not funny! Juvia is trying her best to give the puppy dog look so that Natsu can do whatever Juvia wishes! You’re not supposed to  _ laugh. _ ”

Natsu couldn’t help it as he hit his knee from laughing so hard. “Aww man, you sure are funny! I was dead sure you had an eyelash in your eye and that is why you were looking like that. I’m sorry I couldn’t really guess what you were doing there. As for dinner, yeah sure we can go. Unfortunately, it’s not included in the free price of this tour.”

Juvia tutted and crossed her arms. “And that’s where Natsu goes wrong. This is a date that Natsu invited Juvia on. Natsu should pay for dinner too.”

Natsu frowned in amusement. He couldn’t say he was surprised. He did get a traditionalist vibe from Juvia. “I thought you were willing to call this a tour and not a date?” He grinned like mad when he saw the mock glare that Juvia shot him. “Okay, and what if you invited me on a date then?”

“Juvia will return the favour. Juvia’s not all  _ that _ tight. But that’s why Juvia won’t be arranging anymore dates. Juvia isn’t easily rattled when someone decides to make a dig at her love life.”

Natsu gave her a sarcastic smile and she responded with her own very polite smile, as if she were oblivious that Natsu wasn’t actually happy with the way she was calling him out on his stupidity. She did have a point though, a point that he hated was true. It was his fault that they were in this situation, even though he could have easily just kept his mouth closed, not gone on a date and then told the fools on Monday that him and his date decided to just stay friends.

The only thing is, with him being a shit liar, he could already see how Monday would pan out. He would tell Lucy and Gray the was shit and they would want information. Information that he wasn't good with making up. And even if he did practice his lie all weekend, he would stutter and fuck up. He didn't want any of that. Besides, hanging out with Juvia wasn't bad at all.

“Fine, I’ll take you to one of my favourite places and you CAN’T complain about it! Try the food at least and then give me your opinion after.”

Juvia looked excited as she nodded her head. “Yes, yes! That’s fine by Juvia! Juvia has been cooking every night since she moved here, it would be nice to order takeout at least once. Juvia’s getting tired.”

Natsu snapped his fingers as they started walking. “Okay, well I’m not sure if this makes you feel better, but that was one thing that the twins couldn’t stop praising you about. Both Fuckbusters said your food was the best. Now, I hate to brag, but I like to think of myself as a food connoisseur.”

Juvia practically snorted. “A food connoisseur? Aren’t you supposed to be a connoisseur to just one thing?”

Natsu shook his head fervently. “No, no. I’m the real deal. I’m into the whole shebang. So basically, you’re not a good cook until I say you are.”

Juvia gave him a look that was a cross between being highly insulted and as if she couldn’t believe that he was this annoying. “Aish, Natsu is so annoying! Juvia doesn’t need  _ you  _ to tell her whether or not she’s a good cook! Juvia knows she’s perfect already! If Natsu is asking for Juvia to make him something to eat, then just say that.”

Natsu’s eyes glittered. The only time he got any cooked food was when Zeref was home or if he caved in and went back to the family house. He tried not to do it too often because then his mum would be badgering him that he wasn’t ready to move out and that he needs to get himself a girlfriend who could at least look after his childish behind. His dad was never helpful in those situations, he was always laughing behind his newspaper.

“You would do that, for me? You would cook food for me?”

Juvia nodded. “As much as Juvia was complaining just now of having to cook a lot, Juvia loves doing it for other people. Juvia also gets the feeling that Natsu just lives off of ready made food and if there is one thing that Juvia despises, it’s those stupid microwaved meals. Anyone that’s a friend of Juvia’s shouldn’t be suffering like that.”

Natsu couldn’t help himself as he reached over and hugged Juvia into his side. He could tell she wasn’t expecting it, but otherwise laughed alongside him.

“Juvia, I can proudly say that this is gonna be the start of a beautiful friendship.”

She raised an eyebrow at him as she looked up at him from underneath his arm. “We weren’t friends before? Juvia thought Natsu said we were friends just two days ago?”

“Okay, that came out wrong. I meant like, we’re gonna be really good friends now! I guess you could say we were acquaintances and even you know that. I mean, we didn’t have each other’s numbers until just two days ago. But now, we’ve got room to be close friends.”

He hoped he hadn’t offended her, but so far, Juvia took things quite well. He wondered where the boundary was with her, but he hoped he wouldn’t find it one day. He didn’t want to make Juvia mad or anything, especially not when she could easily get her brother to try and beat him up. Well, try and beat him up.

“Hmm, Natsu does make some good points. Well okay then. What does Natsu enjoy eating? Any special requests?”

“I eat anything, but I love spice. So far, I haven’t come across any food that has been too spicy for me. You can make that a challenge for yourself if you want. I wanna see how far you’re able to go.”

There was a glint in her eyes that told him he had to be careful what he wished for and he found himself gulping in both fear and anticipation to what she was going to cook for him in the near future. 

_ “Fuck me she does look sexy when she’s being challenged.” _

“Challenge accepted then. So what’s the first stop on this tour?”

“I thought that I’ll take you to the leisure centre, seeing as you wanted to start swimming. You used to swim competitively, right?”

Natsu read the surprise on her face. He had remembered her hobbies that she mentioned to him all those years ago when they first met. Even Natsu himself was surprised that he remembered. At least it got him into her good books. He could see the happiness in her eyes and he knew she was excited that he remembered. Even Natsu felt proud of himself.

“Yes! Juvia loves water sports a lot, so she was pretty much down by the coast every summer as well as any school holidays. It doesn’t help that Juvia’s mother is a swimming coach and one of the toughest too.”

Natsu didn’t want to, but he could imagine Juvia in a bikini. Just seeing Juvia in a blouse and pencil skirt where her breasts looked like they were ready to pop out of her shirt and her curves having a hard time being hidden from her office clothes was already a sight that got his trousers feeling tight. To think that she would be wearing less where her breasts would on for show and her long legs could be running laps around him. He groaned at himself for thinking this way. Usually, he was able to keep his thoughts clean. He didn’t really get this turned on unless it had been a while.

_ “Fuck, when was the last time I got laid?” _

Ever since his best friend turned fuck buddy Lisanna had gotten herself a boyfriend  _ and _ left the country, Natsu was left high and dry. She really was the only one who had gotten used to his animalistic ways in bed and whenever he was frustrated with another failed confession with Lucy, he would show up on her doorstep and release his annoyance out on Lisanna in bed. 

Now he was here trying to stop himself from thinking about the things he would do to Juvia instead. That was bad. He had promised himself that he wouldn’t have another friend with benefits arrangement, but he wasn’t sure if that was a good idea now. Besides, he hadn’t known Juvia for that long to ask her if it was something she would like to do and he needed the release as soon as possible.

“Sounds to me like you want me to watch you swim.”

She was silent for a bit and Natsu wondered if he had taken it a bit too far, but then she replied with nothing but pure amusement in her voice.

“If someone had told Juvia that you’re a little perverted, she wouldn’t have believed them. Juvia has clearly been proven wrong. But Juvia supposes that there’s nothing with you watching her swim.”

She threw him a wink and Natsu couldn’t help himself as he threw his head back and burst out laughing.

“Fine, you caught me.”

Juvia shrugged. “Juvia shouldn’t be surprised after the behaviour that she witnessed last night. Now  _ that  _ was funny. Does Natsu even remember how he got home last night?”

Natsu groaned. He had wondered how he had gotten home after being so wasted. He had checked his phone after he had gotten over his hangover and saw that he had called Juvia and spoken to her for so long. He couldn’t believe that the other guys had actually let him get the last train home all by himself! 

“Oh fuck, what did I get you to do?”

“Natsu would just start talking a load of mumbled rubbish. Honestly it was really cute. But then Juvia realised that she could hear you on a  _ train  _ and it didn’t sound like any of the other guys were around, so Juvia deduced that Natsu was making his way home by himself. Juvia would have picked you up by herself, but she has no idea where you live. Meredy-chan has been there with Lyon-kun, so Juvia had to get her to help.”

Natsu groaned even louder. “Oh man, that is so embarrassing! I didn’t say anything wild, did I?”

Juvia looked like she was thinking about it and Natsu really hoped he hadn’t said something stupid. Although he was never one to spew random and personal shit about himself, he always tried to make sure that he hadn’t. Last night was a blur. He couldn’t remember the last time he had blacked out while drinking. That was frightening to think that he didn’t even know Juvia had to pick him up.

“Nope, Natsu just kept mumbling about why can’t Lucy-chan love him instead of the ice prick. How you can rock her world better than he can.”

Natsu’s eyes almost bulged out of his head. Embarrassment was one feeling he never really felt because he was as shameless as the next person, but that was enough for him to want to set himself alight.

_ “Fucking hell, could I get any more pathetic?!” _

“Juvia, I’m  _ so _ sorry-”

Juvia started laughing as she pulled away from his side so that she could laugh hard. Natsu watched her with a weird look on his face before he deadpanned at her. She is definitely a lot meaner than he had originally given her credit for. Her shoulders shook as she got louder, trying to gasp for air and wipe away a few tears that escaped her eyes.

“Juvia is sorry, she’s lying! But the look on Natsu’s face was priceless!”

“I bet it was,” he responded dryly.

Natsu used this time to examine what she was wearing. She really did look casual, but she looked good too. She wore a pair of light blue skinny jeans and some white converses. She wore a simple dark blue t-shirt and covered it up with a black leather jacket. He knew that her figure under those clothes was definitely to die for- 

“Natsu was mumbling about a project though.”

They continued walking, but Juvia was no longer curled up into his side. While he didn’t  _ miss  _ having her tucked into his side, it felt weird not having anyone there. Maybe because he was so used to draping his arms around Lucy’s shoulders and now it felt weird that he was walking with Juvia thought doing the same? He decided not to think about it.

“Oh yeah, that’s right. Erza’s chosen me for our next project and my partner has to be a person that I get to pick from the sales team. I WAS gonna pick ya, but your jokes are so unfunny and I don’t think I can bring myself to listen to them for four weeks.”

Juvia snickered at his childish behaviour. “Juvia can give you recommendations, but none of them smoke or can tolerate Natsu’s behaviour except for Juvia. Natsu should choose his poison carefully.”

He sighed dramatically. “FINE. I guess I’ll have to stick with you then.”

She pretended to bow down to him. “Oh thank you so much, Natsu-sama.”

Natsu knew she was joking when she called him that, but something did twitch within him. Something dark that really had no reason to be doing so. He had never been called that before and it sounded...submissive in a very good way. He really didn’t understand how Gray was able to ignore this girl when she practically threw herself at him and she looked so innocent while doing so.

He tried to throw the thought out of his head as he nodded. “Fine, I guess I can make you my first choice partner. Oh, if we turn left down here...there we are! The leisure centre! It’s closed right now, but it’s open later on weekdays.”

Juvia’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise as her face lit up in wonder. The way she was expressing her happiness at the sight of the building even made Natsu smile too. He had never been so excited to make someone this happy by something so trivial.

“Wow, this really is a leisure centre with everything in it! That  _ can’t  _ just be a gym and swimming pool, can it?”

Natsu shook his head. “Nope, we’ve got pretty much everything here. Like I said, the running track is out the back. There’s a spa in there as well as an ice rink. This ice rink gets used by the figure skaters and then there’s the main ice rink on the other side of town for the ice hockey team. You can skate at both whenever there’s no practice going on.”

Juvia nodded her head, taking in all the information before she turned her head. “So this is the ice rink we supposedly met at, huh?”

Natsu chuckled as he scratched his cheek. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

Juvia kept walking by his side before asking him a question. “What made Natsu think of the ice rink?” Her voice was soft, but he still heard her loud and clear. He shrugged his shoulders as if it didn’t mean much to him, but it kind of did.

“That was the first time I met you, right? Gray and Erza voted that they wanted to go ice skating, even though they know I’m shit at it and then I decided to bring Luce along because Erza was bringing Jellal and then Gray stated that he  _ wouldn’t  _ invite you, but you would end up tagging along anyway and that was the first time we met.”

He watched as recognition filled her eyes and she laughed. “Of course! Well, Gray thinks that Juvia stalked him there, but Jellal-kun invited Juvia. Juvia obviously told him about her crush on Gray and he was always trying to put in a good word for Juvia. That clearly never worked,” she mumbled and Natsu shook his head.

“But yes, that was a good day out! Didn’t we end up getting pushed to the side together? Juvia vaguely remembers thinking whether or not she should help you out with your skating, but Natsu stormed off of the ice in anger before Juvia could even call out to you. Juvia wasn’t sure if it was the fact that Gray and Lucy had each other’s attention or whether you really were pissed off about ice skating.”

“It was 100% both. It sucked because Luce is shit at skating too, so Gray took it upon himself to teach her. Meh, can’t get mad about it now.”

Juvia smiled softly at him before speaking up again. “Maybe Juvia can teach you some time!”

Natsu raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Oh yeah? Are you asking me out on another date? I thought you said you wouldn’t do that?”

Her cheeks turned a nice rosy colour and he laughed at her as she puffed her cheeks out. “Well, the next time can be a hangout! Completely different from a date! Juvia is very surprised that your younger sister hasn’t tried to help you.”

It was Natsu’s turn to blush as he looked away defiantly. “She said that I’m unteachable and that anyone who can teach me is like a god or something.”

Juvia grinned at him as she poked his arm, trying to get him to look at her. He felt a little embarrassed about it, but he knew he was better at other things that didn’t involve the ice.

“Well then, Natsu better get ready to call Juvia a goddess, because she's going to make it happen! It’s not even hard at all, it’s a piece of cake. It’s just like walking.”

Natsu turned his head and gave her an incredulous look. “What?! Walking on a blade?! On ICE?! You’re fucking crazy!”

Juvia spluttered at his insinuation. “Pft, Juvia?! Crazy?! That does it, next weekend we’re going ice skating and Juvia will show you just how  _ crazy  _ it is! Natsu is just making a big fool out of himself by being a big baby and not trying it.”

Natsu stopped and practically held Juvia back by her elbow so that she couldn’t continue walking without him. She yelped a little as she snatched her elbow back and away from him. He threw a finger in her face.

“You take that back! I’m NOT a big baby!”

She looked at him in disbelief. “Oh, Juvia is so sorry. Natsu is right, he’s not a big baby. He’s childish.”

Natsu could feel a vein pop. He wasn’t sure which one was worse, being called a big baby or being called childish. He was sure that they both had the same meaning.

“Fine, next Saturday then.”

Juvia threw him a triumphant look and Natsu just laughed in disbelief. He couldn’t believe that he was practically letting this girl get away with murder. Just who was he and where had his real self gone? The only person that he let get away with stuff like that was Wendy and Lucy. Wendy because she was his younger sister and the whole family dotted on her and then Lucy because she was quite literally the love of his life.

“Don’t worry, Juvia will make sure that you’re skating on a level close enough to Gray. Although Gray  _ has  _ been skating since he was young apparently...Well, Juvia will do her best!”

She put her fist in the air in excitement and Natsu couldn’t help but also feel a little excited. Being good at something that Gray was good at and then he can show him that it’s not hard? Sign him up.

“So what, have you been ice skating since you were young too?”

“Hmm, not like a child. Juvia has been skating since around the same time she started smoking. 13. Our school started an ice skating club and Juvia actually joined just for the hell of it. Skating at least once a week really helps you improve quickly.”

Natsu looked down at her with a suggestive gaze. “Are you hinting that you wanna spend more time with me?”

She pushed him away from her with a blush on her cheeks as he just laughed at her reaction. There was no doubt that she wasn’t expecting that. Natsu didn’t know why it was so fun and easy to tease her, but he really did like how easy their friendship was coming to them. There was nothing awkward about anything.

“This is coming from a guy who wants to pick Juvia as his partner for a project? Juvia isn’t alone in this.”

Natsu almost tripped as he blinked and looked down at her. She wasn’t looking at him and he was wondering if it’s because she realised what she had just said or if she didn’t realise what she had just said. Natsu could feel something like warmth flooding through him. It was different from the horniness he felt now and again (or every time he looked at Juvia). It was different from how he felt whenever he was around Lucy. This seemed like a calm lulling warmth that made him feel special and singled out.

_ “So...does she want to spend more time with me? Maybe because we get on really well? Yeah, that’s it, we get on like old friends. She must still be hung up on Gray like I am a little bit with Lucy. Saying that though, she seems to be getting over him easier than I’m getting over Lucy. Probably because she doesn’t have to see the bastard’s face everyday.” _

“Natsu.”

He was immediately pulled out of his thoughts when he heard her calling him and he faced her. She shook her head, finding it so funny that he was so deep in thought.

“Where else are we heading to? We’ve been walking this road for quite some time.”

“Oh yeah! Well, at the end of this road, it leads up into another subway station on a different line to ours. Above it, there’s a shopping mall. I know how much you girls love shopping.”

Juvia gave him a mock glare for the generalisation and Natsu grinned nervously. Not only did she look like she was going to beat him up, she looked  _ sexy. _ But then she started clapping her hands in excitement and her sexy factor disappeared and turned into cute instead.

“Juvia hasn’t really gone shopping or anything in a while! There’s no shopping mall in Oaktown, just loads of high streets. Juvia had to go to Haregon for the closest shopping mall.”

Natsu looked confused. “But Magnolia is closer than Haregon. Why the hell did you guys go there?”

“Because Juvia never realised that there was a mall here in Magnolia. Juvia thought that with Magnolia being a smallish town like Oaktown, you guys wouldn’t have the same things as Haregon. Oops. Oh well, Juvia knows now and that’s all that matters. Juvia is surprised that Meredy-chan never said anything though... Are there any Natsu worthy restaurants in there?”

He nodded with a face splitting grin. “Yeah, there’s loads! Like I said, I’m good to eat anything, but if it’s spicy, it’s a bonus. Come on, I’ll show you everything.

~x~

They ended the night in a large park on a hill. Juvia had come to learn that Magnolia had a lot more hills compared to Oaktown, which was virtually all flat land. Natsu had just laughed whenever Juvia complained about the hills and claimed that as a swimmer, her stamina should be excellent, so she should quit whining.

“So everyone already knows that the view of the sunset and sunrise is amazing here, but I never really started experiencing it until Gray and Lucy announced their relationship. I found myself bringing a few beers and a blanket just staring at the sunset. Depressing I know, but that was my way of coping with the news. Anyway, I’m not sure how you are with views, so I thought I’ll end the night with one.”

He looked over at her to gauge her reaction and he wasn’t disappointed by what he saw. She stood there, soft eyes as she drank in the look of the reddish sun that was lazing in the purple sky. Natsu found himself unable to look away from her as he just kept staring. Okay, so his heart might want Lucy, but his eyes and brain were appreciating Juvia right now.

“It’s so beautiful,” she breathed out. The smile on her face was so serene. Natsu couldn’t help but be captivated by the sight of her. Even her blue hair reflected the colour of the sky in that instance. He tried to be casual about it and shove his hands in his pockets, but then he just ruined it with the corniest line.

“Yeah, beautiful.”

He saw her turn her head to look at him, but he quickly turned his eyes so that he made it look like he was looking at the sunset. He couldn’t believe himself, yet  _ again. _ He never knew when to say something and when not to! 

“Does Natsu come here anymore?”

Natsu thought about it. When was the last time he had come here because of them? 

“Well I still come here, but I don’t come here for them anymore. I think when I came here so much, it just became like a routine for me. How long have they been dating now? Swear it’s like a year? Although they never said anything until they got to their six month anniversary.”

Natsu sighed at the fact that they had been together for a  _ year.  _ He had tried his best to turn a blind eye to the fact that he thought he saw them both glancing at each other, sitting next to each other and so on. It just  _ hurt.  _ It hurt more that he was going through his own shit and there wasn’t really anyone around him to help with that, all because they were cuddled up with each other secretly.

“Is Natsu okay? That doesn’t sound like a content sigh.”

Natsu laughed bitterly and shook his head before turning to look at her, “That cunt knew, y’know? I  _ told  _ him how I felt about Luce. It was back in university. I told him how I met this girl who is chill and actually gets on with me since school and he jokingly said that I should date her, because I'll never find a girl who would get on with me. Funny, because now he's dating that said girl.”

Natsu sat down on the ground and heaved a huge sigh. Juvia sat down close to him and nudged him with her knee. Natsu smiled sadly at her and Juvia smiled back reassuringly.

“Maybe talking will make Natsu feel a little better. Get it off your chest.”

And he did.

“Okay, so maybe I didn’t exactly _ tell  _ Gray it was Luce, I just thought it would be fucking implied. I brought her everywhere I went whenever we were hanging out. I didn’t think that he really was that stupid to not know that Luce is the girl that I liked. And even Luce was a bit of an airhead. I mean, did she not seriously get all my hints? I guess I should have just accepted being put into the friendzone from the time when she started dating every guy around her but me.”

Natsu laughed at himself again and Juvia leaned her head on his shoulder and she gripped his forearm and gave him a reassuring squeeze. He let in a shaky air of breath. This felt different, airing out all your problems to someone who understood. He finally felt like he wasn’t alone and that was something that he had been feeling for a while. Just sitting here and talking with Juvia felt really nice.

“I mean I don’t give a shit about it now. I’ve let her go. That’s all I can do, right?”

Juvia nodded. “Right. There are many other single girls out there that can probably be a better match for you. Don’t give up hope because of one girl.”

Natsu laughed as she raised her head up from his shoulder. They glanced at one another before silently looking out at the setting sun.

“Juvia used to wish that one day Gray would wake up and realise that Lucy wasn’t the girl for him. That he would finally realise that the girl who had been by his side the longest that wasn’t his older sister was Juvia. Juvia knew him in and out and was the only other person who didn’t mind his cold personality.”

Natsu turned his head back as she spoke. Maybe she also needed to get things off of her chest. He doubted that Gajeel was a good listener and he probably didn’t understand why his sister was going after a guy who had told her time and time again that he didn’t want her.

“Juvia is well aware that opposites attract, but the two of them were just too opposite. Almost like the sun and the moon. Lucy-chan is so bright and quirky as well as loud. Gray is somber and wants peace and quiet, nothing too loud. Lucy-chan wears her heart on a sleeve just like Juvia, but Gray internalises everything. He doesn’t show any outward emotion. But at the end of the day, even Juvia must admit that they are a pretty hot power couple.”

Natsu scrunched up his face in complete disgust. “I am  _ not  _ admitting that that icicle is fucking hot, cos he ain’t. Not when you’ve got me right here.”

Juvia giggled from next to him and rolled her eyes at his petty behaviour. “Well, Juvia has no problem in admitting that Lucy-chan is hotter than she is. Juvia just looks so plain whenever she stands near Lucy-chan. Sometimes it makes Juvia realise that Gray really is only to pretty girls.”

Natsu made a face as he placed his head on her head and turned it towards him. Did this girl not own a mirror or something? Did she not understand that she’s a pretty girl too? 

“Oi. Why are we talking about other people on our date? That’s not very smart, is it? And besides, I think you’re pretty hot, so Gray is just being fucking stupid. We would make a  _ way  _ hotter couple than them, dontcha think?”

Juvia stared at him in surprise before her cheeks turned to crimson. Natsu chuckled at the sight before releasing her head and deciding to not embarrass her anymore. But it was a serious question. They would definitely look hotter than them, no?

Juvia then smiled and nodded her head. “Natsu is right, we shouldn’t be thinking about them on our date. Instead, let’s get to know each other a bit more! So we’re both similar ages, right? Juvia is 24.”

“Yeah, same here. When’s your birthday?”

“Juvia is born in spring, the rainy season. April 9th. What about Natsu?”

“7th July. I’m a summer baby. You can see that my parents were real creative with my name.”

Juvia giggled at his comment as he tried to think of another question. “What’s your favourite colour?”

Juvia pointed at her top in amusement. “Blue. Natsu’s?”

“Red. Favourite food?”

They both kept on throwing questions back and forth to each other until the sun was gone completely. Natsu realised the time and swore under his breath as he scrambled to stand up. Juvia stood up with him, but she could barely see him. There were no lights in the park.

“What’s wrong?”

“We’ve overstayed our welcome and got locked in. Where this place is pretty much just a really large field, the park keepers are supposed to come and make sure that there’s no one still left in here, but they can’t be bothered and they just lock the gate. By this time, the gates are always locked.”

Juvia groaned a little before laughing. It still shocked Natsu how easy going she was with a lot of situations. Then he remembered that she was a bad girl and this was probably a situation that she had been in many times.

“So what do we do now? Is there like a little opening to climb through?”

Natsu grabbed her hand so that they wouldn’t get lost and he almost didn’t respond because he instantly fell in love with how soft her hands felt. To think that they basically did the same job but her hands felt worlds apart from his. It was really amazing.

“Ah, there used to be, not anymore. They closed them all up because cunts were getting in here and just ruining the place overnight with all their litter and shit. It’s fine, there’s a short wall that we can climb over. We kinda have to be careful because it’s got spikes on the top of it. I can get over it, but I’ll have to help you.”

“Natsu sounds like he was a bad boy in school.”

There was a sound of laughter in her voice and Natsu smirked even though she couldn’t see it.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Hmm, that’s a story for another time. Oh wow, Natsu wasn’t lying when he said there are spikes on the railings. Juvia is very curious to see what Natsu gets over this.”

He glanced back at her. “You sound way too calm about this.”

She folded her arms and shrugged her shoulders. “Panicking is useless. It will get us nowhere.”

He looked over at her and could just about see her face from the street lights on the main road. “Riiight. I have a feeling you can scale this easily.”

She gave him a cheeky smile. “Juvia will neither deny nor confirm whether she can actually do that or not. Anyway, Natsu should show Juvia how it’s done.”

She probably didn’t mean to, but her voice sounded really sultry and inviting. Natsu had to swallow some saliva as his throat had gone dry, just because of how she had said it. It really insinuated different things and he wasn’t so sure if she was doing it on purpose or if she was being totally oblivious to the fact that she really sounded like she was talking about something else.

He turned back around, trying not to think about it anymore than he should have been. He hauled himself up onto the brick part of the wall and placed his hands under where the spikes were. Taking a deep breath, he launched himself over the wall and landed firmly on his feet. When he turned back to look at Juvia through the railings, her jaw had dropped as she stared at him. He felt his ego swell and he puffed out his chest in pride.

“That’s how it’s done.”

“W-wow! Juvia can’t do THAT! You must be so strong, you practically threw yourself over the railings like you weigh nothing! Okay, Juvia has to admit it, she’s very impressed.”

Natsu flexed his muscles and she laughed at his stupidity. 

“Whenever Natsu is done flexing, get ready to catch Juvia, okay?”

He stared at her. “What are you gonna do?”

She started walking backwards as if to give herself a run up and she completely ignored Natsu’s question. His eyes widened when he realised what she was planning on doing. 

“Juvia, you’re fucking crazy-”

She ran full speed towards the wall. Without stopping or slowing down, she used the wide ledge of the brick wall to launch herself into the air and then further grabbed the railings where Natsu had done to help give herself an extra boost above the spikes. Natsu would have screeched at her if he didn’t actually have to dive forward in time and save her.

She fell right into his arms and he pulled her close to him. She grinned up at him and he breathlessly laughed at her, shaking his head in complete awe. This girl really is crazy.

“I can’t believe you’re actually crazy enough to do something like that.”

She shrugged as she tried to get her breath back. “Juvia’s motivation was her bed. Juvia didn’t want to be stuck here all night. Besides, talk about pot calling kettle black! Natsu is just as crazy!”

They were both staring at each other, watching what the other might do. There should be an attraction between the two of them. It shouldn’t happen, they technically still like other people. They were just two people who were friends. 

“Natsu fucking Dragneel. I shoulda known.”

The duo turned around, Juvia still in Natsu’s arms bridal style. They jumped at the fact that they had just been caught before Natsu started laughing when he saw who it was.

“Old man Rob, you’re still here?”

“Watch it kid, I can still chase after ya if need be. And now I see yer gettin’ an innocent girl involved in your crooked ways. Honestly luv, you could do a whole lot better than this piece of shit right here.”

“Oi!”

Juvia giggled a little bit before wrapping her arms around Natsu’s neck which almost made the poor man freeze in shock. She looked at the park keeper who clearly had had many run-ins with Natsu from his childhood and she smiled at him.

“Juvia likes them crooked. She loves the thrill of the chase.”

Natsu stared at her as she grinned up at him and Rob started laughing and shaking his head. 

“Now you sound like my wife! You two will last long, that’s for sure. Just make sure he never runs ya out of pocket when it comes to food. This lil fucker doesn’t know when to stop.”

“Juvia will keep that noted. Come on Natsu, drop Juvia home.”

“Ah-yeah, sure! See ya around old man!”

“I hope to Kami I don’t!”

Natsu snickered as he walked away with Juvia still in arms. When they were out of earshot and sight, Natsu placed Juvia down on the ground as she led him towards her house. She had managed to remember where they had walked and she now knew her way around a lot better.

“Why the hell did you tell him that then?! We’re so fucked if he mentions this to anyone else too.”

Juvia just shrugged. “Juvia isn’t too fussed. Besides, this is all Natsu’s doing, no? Juvia’s just going along with it.”

Natsu sighed in frustration. “No Juves, you don’t fucking get  _ it. _ ”

Juvia finally saw that there was something more bugging Natsu and she stopped and tugged on his sleeve. She gave him a curious look and he tried to look away from her, but she stepped forward and gently cupped his cheek and moved his head so that he was facing her.

“So tell Juvia. What’s going on? Is it because you’re still into Lucy?”

He shook his head. That was far from this issue. “I don’t wanna ruin your chances of finding someone around here. If someone finds out that we’re ‘dating’ they would think you’ve got no fucking standards and anyone will try and get with you, especially scum.”

Juvia blinked and then scrunched up her face. “Juvia seriously doubts that and Juvia also doesn’t care. If people end up bothering Juvia too much, she’ll just get Gajeel to scare them away or something, no big deal. Besides, what’s wrong with being seen with Natsu? Juvia enjoyed herself and she’s glad we’re friends. We should do this more often!”

Natsu didn’t know why, but her words really cheered him up. Girls found him attractive, sure, but they ran away the moment they got to know his personality. He wasn’t really all that great at wining and dining and just general dating stuff. He was a bit wild and chaotic and loads of girls didn’t like that. He was great as a friend, shit as a lover.

Well, he was more than great in bed, perfect even. While Lisanna had been his friend with benefits, that was only if he couldn’t find someone else to have a one night stand with. He was very good at them, but he always kept that side of him to himself. Lucy would be disappointed that he ran through girls like boxers, Erza would probably give him a concussion over it and Gray would start an argument claiming that he was lying.

It wasn’t Natsu’s fault that no girl saw him as a great boyfriend, only good enough to hop into bed with. But if that’s all they wanted, then fine. At least he was getting something out of the whole ordeal anyway, it’s a two way street at least.

But here Juvia was, saying that she actually enjoyed his company and would happily tell people that they were dating even though they weren’t. It was an amazing feeling and he felt like walking on air.

“Well if you say so. I can’t stop you.”

Juvia grinned at him as if she knew that he was hiding that he was excited. They turned down her road and Natsu groaned. Juvia was confused.

“What?”

“You live on the same road as my fucking parents?!”

Juvia’s jaw dropped before she slowly started laughing at the irony of it. “Ohoho, Natsu was raised on this street? That’s so cute, let’s try and find Natsu’s house!”

Before she could shoot off, Natsu grabbed her hand and pulled him into her. “Oh no you fucking don’t! I’m not having you try and find out where the hell I live! It’s bad enough we’re lying to our friends, I ain’t lying to my family about this fake relationship! Even if I try and explain to my mum that we’re only friends, she’s not gonna believe me!”

“Natsu-nii?”

The two coworkers froze as they turned their head to see a girl standing in the front door with a rubbish bag in her hands. Natsu couldn’t believe his fucking luck.

“Wendy, this isn’t what it looks like.”

The pair of them sprang apart, their faces as red as Erza’s hair as they tried their best not to look at one another. Juvia looked at the girl in the doorway and saw that she had navy blue hair that was extremely long. They were put into cute pigtails, but she could tell that the girl was no younger than 18. She looked cute for her age though.

Juvia smiled weakly as she introduced herself. “Ano, nice to meet you, Wendy-chan! Juvia is Juvia and she’s Natsu’s coworker!”

Wendy looked behind her before closing the door a little bit and meeting the two of them at the gate. She smiled before bowing politely to her. Juvia practically jumped out of her skin at how polite she was. Natsu was far from that!

“It’s nice to meet you too! Are you guys sure you’re _ just _ coworkers though? You seem to be pretty friendly.”

Juvia looked away again and Natsu just rolled his eyes at his sister. She could come off as very innocent, but she was just like their mother at the end of the day. Nosey.

“Oi, leave her alone. She said we’re coworkers and that’s what we are. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, I’ve gotta get her home.”

Wendy crossed her arms over her chest. “I wasn’t even doing anything! I was just teasing, everyone knows you like Lucy  _ anyway. _ ”

Natsu flicked her forehead which made her yelp in pain and he smirked, happy that he got his own back. 

“Not anymore squirt. Anyway, if you manage to keep your mouth shut about this, I’ll tell you all about what’s happened here tomorrow and then I can get you those new skates that you’ve always fucking wanted.”

Wendy gasped, shoved the bag in the bin and hugged her brother tightly. “You know you can count on me, Natsu-nii! But I’ve got to say Juvia-san, you are super pretty! It was nice meeting you! I better go in before mum comes out to see why I’m taking too long. Bye!”

With that, she waved and Juvia waved back before the front door was closed. Juvia turned to face Natsu who didn’t even bother looking back at her and just grabbed her hand and pulled her along. Juvia snickered before stopping somewhere in the middle. 

“This is Juvia’s house. Well, wasn’t that fun?”

“Don’t even bother. Now go on, head inside,” he said flatly.

She smiled at him cheekily before she gave him a soft hug. It took some time for him to register the hug, but he did eventually and he placed his arms around her, holding her to him. He managed to get a whiff of her hair and even her perfume. She smelt so good and felt so good too. He then put his hands on her waist and held back the groan when he could feel her curves and he pulled her back.

“Go on, I’ll watch you head inside.”

Juvia nodded and moved towards her gate. She then looked back at him.

“Juvia really had a lot of fun today. Thank you for taking the time out of your evening to show Juvia around it. It was really fun. Don’t forget, ice skating next week, okay?”

Natsu waved his hand, a huge grin on his face. “How can I forget when you won’t stop being excited that you’re hanging out with me again?”

“Natsu shouldn’t flatter himself. Oh! Natsu shouldn’t bother bringing himself any lunch this coming week, Juvia’s going to make him lunch! Don’t ask, it’s all a surprise!”

She winked at him and he just laughed at her. She finally got her front door open and he watched her head in. With one last look, she waved cutely to him.

“Good night, Natsu. Please get home safely.”

“I will. G’night.”

The moment she closed the door was the moment Natsu released his breath that he didn’t even know he was holding. Tonight was...he felt good about it. Juvia was the last person he ever thought he would be on a ‘date’ with, but he didn’t hate it. In fact, this was the best ‘first date’ he had ever been on and it wasn’t even a real one. Just hanging out with Juvia was cool and different. It didn’t help that she was extremely attractive too.

_ “I wonder if she was thinking about the same things as me. Nah, probably not.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that chapter was enough to pacify you readers for this week! Thank you to everyone who left kudos on this story as well as those who left comments as well! It's all appreciated. Please stay clean, safe and sane!
> 
> Lolita-chan


	4. Chapter 4

Natsu barely had enough time to start up the coffee maker before Lucy jumped onto him. He almost fell to the floor and he pushed her away without even thinking. Lucy scoffed in surprise and started hitting him back. Gray sighed as he walked in and saw them practically slapping each other. They were so damn childish.

“What the fuck is wrong with you Luce?!”

“Oh shut up, I’ve come to find out how your date went on Saturday! You ignored my messages and aired my calls all day yesterday! I’m not letting you get away from me today, I  _ will  _ find out how it went!”

Natsu knew she was excited to find out more about the date, but to the extent where she practically knocks him over?! “You’re fucking crazy. Get off of me and let me get my damn coffee!”

Lucy huffed as she stood up and let him get up. He straightened his tie and brushed down any dirt that might have gotten on his shirt as he glared at his friend. He then turned his attention to Gray with an accusatory glare.

“And you just fucking let her?”

He shrugged, not caring in the slightest if Natsu had just been inconvenienced. In fact, he was smirking at his demise.

“What can I say, I’m curious too. How’d it go? Didya scare her away?”

Natsu jammed his middle finger up in the air at the both of them and mumbled something along the lines of them being the perfect couple because they’re both too crazy for anyone else to handle. The couple both looked at each other and shrugged as they watched his make his coffee.

“I’ll tell you guys later. I know Erza will have our heads if we miss our Monday meeting. C’mon.”

“We can talk and walk Natsu. You’re not getting out of this. I don’t know when we’ll get to see you next. You’re going to the sales team, remember?”

Of course he remembered. In fact, he never forgot about it. He has been waiting for pretty much the whole weekend to have a reason to get away from this couple and his department. The sales lounge was waiting for him. Oh, and Juvia.

“Maybe I can finally have some peace and quiet away from the sounds of both your lips smacking together.”

Lucy’s eyebrow twitched as Gray stepped away from his girlfriend and she punched Natsu in the back of his head. He tumbled down to the floor again just as Erza walked in through the door. Without even looking down at him, she stepped over his body, as did a few others in the department as they made their way to their board meeting. 

“Natsu, make sure you clean up your coffee before coming into the meeting. You’ve got 5 minutes.”

_ “I fucking HATE Mondays.” _

He cleaned up the spilt coffee and made sure the mug was no longer in pieces on the floor. He sighed, thinking whether or not he should just go out for a smoke or if he should go to the meeting. It suddenly dawned on him that all weekend, he hadn’t once reached for his cigarettes. He could almost laugh. 

After a five second debate with himself, he trudged his way into the meeting and went to his normal seat, which thankfully was nowhere near the couple. He saw Lucy mouth the word ‘sorry’ to him and he smiled weakly, letting her know that everything was okay. She gave him a bright smile and focused on what Erza had to say.

“So last week, I was given a project and I was told to give it to someone that I feel has come a long way with their work. I decided that the perfect person to give it to was Natsu. Natsu used to be the laziest-”

“Sitting  _ right _ here,” he mumbled so that she wouldn’t be able to continue that sentence.

“-Worker that we used to have, but he really has pulled his weight in recent months. I’m impressed. So I gave him the project. It’s only a month long, but I feel like I could get some amazing work out of you yet. His partner will be anyone that he picks from the sales team and they’ll basically be working on it together for the next month. He can either work here or in their department. They’ve got to show their work to be at the end of every week to make sure they’re on top. So please give a round of applause to Natsu.”

Everyone at the table clapped for Natsu, whistling and congratulating him. He felt proud of himself as he accepted the handshakes of those around him. Gray looked like he was reluctant to clap for his friend, but even Natsu knew he was happy for him. Lucy herself was beaming at him too and Erza gave him a thumbs up.

“So whenever you’re ready, I guess you can go to the sales department to pick who you would like to work with.”

“Does that mean right now?”

“You know I hate dilly dallying.”

Natsu had never been happier to go and start on some work. “Gottcha. See you guys later I guess!”

Natsu shot out of his seat so fast as he picked up his laptop bag and made sure that he wasn’t forgetting anything else that he needed. He had already printed off the files that he needed to print and grabbed his belongings.

He made his way through the building and through to the sales team. He didn’t see anyone around and gathered that they too must be in their own Monday meeting. He knocked on the door and waited politely before he was met by a familiar face. The green haired woman grinned at him as she ushered him inside.

“Good morning Natsu! We were just discussing our joint collaboration with Erza-chan’s dear old department! I didn’t realise that she had given you the project though! Please introduce yourself to everyone here.”

Natsu bowed his head a little bit as his eyes took in everyone who worked there. Honestly, the only person he knew was Juvia, so he was more than grateful she was here. 

“Morning, the name’s Natsu Dragneel and I work in finance. This is my first project, so I hope I don’t mess it up.”

He saw Juvia give him a smile which in turn widened his. He couldn’t help but see that there were a few women who looked to be around the same age as him as well and they were all staring at him like he was the jackpot. That was odd. The other guys didn’t look very bad looking either, but it was clear that it was one of those departments where everyone fucked everyone.

_ “I wonder if Juvia has done anything with any of the guys here. Nah, she was so far up Gray’s arse, she thought she was in his heart.” _

“So Natsu, do you know anyone from here? Is there anyone you would really like to work with?”

Natsu nodded and his eyes fell straight on Juvia’s. He watched as she sat up taller and straightened out her suit jacket as she looked directly into his eyes. 

“I know Juvia and I also know her work is amazing. Can I work with her?”

Natsu broke eye contact to look back at Bisca who nodded, almost as if she were excited. 

“Of course you can! Juvia here is definitely one of the strongest members of the team. Anyway, the meeting’s done. Everyone knows what they’re doing now.”

And that was that. They were all done. Many people said their welcomes to Natsu and he smiled at them as they all passed by. There were still some women who gave him winks and what not as they tried their best to sway their hips as they made their way out of the office. Bisca placed her hand on his shoulder with a sly look.

“My department is sure filled with loads of pretty girls right? You can probably already tell we’re an inbred department, they all fuck each other around here. It’s easy for you to get in and get out after a month. I don’t care if you get involved with anyone, but even I can tell these girls aren’t your type. Anyway, nice to have you here!”

He rolled his eyes with a grin. “Thanks for the heads up. Erza would have a fit is we were fucking each other. I think she’s more worried that shit would end up on bad terms and shit gets awkward. The only relationship she’s allowed is Gray and Lucy’s.”

Bisca nodded. “Yeah, she’s a bit stricter than me in that sense, isn’t she? I don’t really care. No awkwardness is allowed here. Everyone is an adult and they all knew what they were getting themselves into when they got involved. Anyway, Erza tells me you had a date on Saturday. Did it go alright?”

Natsu was about to speak when Juvia had gathered her stuff and made her way to the two of them. He smiled at her before facing Bisca again with a simple shrug.

“Yeah, it went really well. Thinking of seeing her again next weekend.”

Bisca wasn’t like Lucy and Erza. She wasn’t nosey and she didn’t want to insert herself into everyone’s lives. She was happy as long as her friends were happy. She placed her hand on his shoulder and patted it.

“Good for you! I’m happy you’re finally putting yourself out there. Maybe you can give Juvia here some pointers too. I want to see her get the man of her dreams too. Well anyway, Juvia can show you around and then you guys can get down to business, okay?”

Natsu nodded and Bisca patted Juvia’s head before walking out of the office. The two of them were the only ones left in the boardroom as they glanced at each other. Juvia used her head to gesture that they should head out and Natsu followed her. They didn’t really need a tour as Juvia had already shown him the lounge, fire exit and the toilets on Friday, the three main places he needed to know

Without even trying like the other women were, Juvia trapped him with the pendulum swing of her ass. Her peplum skirt did wonders that he wasn’t sure if it was the skirt enhancing her round behind or if it really came like that. He might actually end up taking her up on her offer of watching her swim.

“So this is Juvia’s office here.”

Natsu turned his head to look and he watched as she opened the glass door. Her office was neat and immaculate. You could tell that she was some sort of clean freak, or at least a very organised woman. Erza and Lucy weren’t the same. They had a pile of mess, but they knew where their shit was in that said mess.

“You guys are fucking pampered here. You’ve got a lounge as well as your own offices. Damn, what next, memberships to the country club?”

Juvia looked away from his quickly and Natsu had to laugh in disbelief. He had only said that as a joke!

“Are you fucking kidding me?!”

Juvia laughed at his reaction as she pointed at the rack where he could hang his belongings and so forth.

“Well, we’re the sales team! We’re the ones that have to meet up with clients and all that, so we have to sometimes take them out to lunch, have golf meetings and all that fancy stuff. We get a lot of perks being in this department. Also, we have our own offices so that we don’t disturb others when we’re on the phone. It’s different from the financing team. What do you guys do? Deal with the books and make sure budgeting goes correctly?”

“In simple terms, yeah. But still, you guys are all off gallivanting while we work our butts off!”

Juvia sighed as she grabbed the extra wheelie chair that she had managed to secure that morning before the meeting. She pushed it towards Natsu who placed it next to hers at the desk which was actually more than enough for two people to sit at.

“We’re working too! Honestly, these high end clients are no joke and they’re so annoying. Most of them are older men who specify for a woman to meet them at these lunch dates. Besides, the perk is pretty much for the whole company, just that the sales team gets top priority in renewals. Juvia can take you to the admin team where we sort out all this stuff.”

Natsu was getting excited. “Are you being for real? I get to have a membership to a country club? Wait, does that shit come out of our wages?”

Juvia shook her head, beaming at him. “Nope! It comes out of the company. But that’s why you’ve got to keep it hush hush. As much as everyone in the company gets the perks, like Juvia said, the sales team gets top priority. We can go down at lunch to sort everything out.”

Natsu gave her a one armed hug. He seemed to be doing that a lot with her and Juvia was ready for them. She no longer jumped whenever he pulled her into one unexpectedly. That was something that she had come to learn with Natsu. Expect the unexpected. 

“You are the best thing to ever happen to me!”

“Ano, don’t say that.”

Natsu laughed and poked her cheeks the moment he saw them tint and she swatted his hands away as she logged into her computer. She watched out of the corner of her eyes as he too brought out his own laptop along with paperwork.

“Okay, so this is the stuff that we need to fill out on paper. I’ve got the checklist on my laptop in my important emails. Hey, do you guys have any coffee in your lounge?”

Juvia nodded. “Yes we do. Does Natsu want Juvia to go and make him a mug?”

She was going to stand up, but Natsu placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her gently back into her seat. She blinked up at him and he gave her a lopsided grin that just warmed her heart.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this. I know where your lounge is, I’ll just go and make it. D’you want a cup? And if you do, how do you want it?”

“Cream and 2 sugars please. If Natsu goes to that cupboard over there, he will see four mugs. Use whichever you want to use. That’s Juvia’s personal selection. For some strange reason, someone was smashing Juvia’s mugs, so she ended up having to keep them in there. The same with Juvia’s food. Juvia has her own fridge right underneath here.”

Natsu frowned at the idea of someone targeting Juvia. Was it workplace jealousy, or were they doing it to Juvia not knowing that everything destroyed or ate was Juvia’s? Well, he wasn’t stupid, someone was clearly out to get her for whatever reason. If he caught the person, he was either gonna chin them or let them know that they’re not gonna get away with shit while he was there.

“Okay, I’ll go and get our coffees made then. Won’t be long.”

Juvia smiled at him as he left and he made his way down the hall. He could hear the muffled voices of them all through their doors as they were already spending their time talking to clients. He wasn’t sure if he could do that all day, talk to rich pricks with sticks up their ass. But as long as Juvia liked her job, he didn’t care about what he could and couldn’t do.

He finally got to the lounge and once again shook his head in disbelief at how amazing it was. He was going to have to try and convince Erza if they could get something similar. Or maybe he was going to ask Bisca to discuss it with her. She would rather listen to her best friend than to him.

Halfway through making their coffees, he could hear the clack of someone’s high heels walking into the lounge. He silently prayed that it wasn’t one of the obviously horny women who seemed to be ready to jump on some new dick. Honestly, it wouldn’t have been that bad if his body wasn’t already reacting to the sight of Juvia.

“Oh, hello handsome! I would like to personally introduce myself, my name’s Touka.”

He turned and the woman was already standing right behind him. He laughed weakly and shook her hand that she was holding out. He couldn’t help but notice that she had undone quite a fair amount of buttons from her top, more than Lucy would have undone. At this point, she might as well not be wearing the blouse. Was her top like that when they were in the meeting?

Her skirt was also very high, but he was sure she actually came to work with that short skirt on anyway. Sure she was attractive, but her blatant desperation turned him off massively. He wasn’t a fan of desperation.

“Hey. The name’s Natsu.”

He watched as she eyed him up and down. “Hmm, I know. Well, I just saw you pass by my office without Juvia and I was wondering if maybe she had bailed on giving you the tour? I was wondering if maybe I should step in and pick up her slack and help you out.”

Now she was pushing out her chest so that he could stare at it. He glanced down briefly before raising an eyebrow at how desperate she was acting. Okay, so he may not have gotten laid in a while, but he would never practically beg to fuck a girl. That shit had to be mutual. Right now, he wasn’t feeling this girl’s vibe.

“Ah, nah I’m good. I’m just getting us some coffee. Thanks for asking, that’s real nice of ya.”

He turned around and he didn’t miss the small ‘humph’ that made him grin. It was clear that he wasn’t used to being told no and the fact that he had even turned his back on her must have freaked her out completely.

“So how do you know Juvia? She’s pretty quiet around here that I wouldn’t have thought that she knew anyone as hot as you.”

_ “She’s bold, I’ll give her that.” _

“She was friends with a best mate of mine. We’ve got loads of mutuals, so I knew her already.”  _ “That and we’re pretty much fake dating right now, but you don’t need to know that.” _

Just as he had finished making the coffee, he turned around so that he could make his way out of the lounge, but Touka had him by the tie. His eyes widened as he moved his head back when she wanted him to bring his head closer to her. She is WAY too bold!

“Um, what the fuck-”

“Let me cut to the chase because you seem like a guy who doesn’t like hints. I think you’re fine as fuck and I’m feeling a little horny, soooo, when did you wanna-”

“Oh, did Juvia walk in on something she wasn’t meant to?”

Touka practically growled as she turned her head to see Juvia standing there awkwardly, shielding her eyes away from the scene. While she looked like an annoyance to Touka, she looked like a goddess who had come to save him in Natsu’s eyes. 

“Yeah, kinda.”

“Nope, you didn’t walk in on anything you meant to. Perfect timing really. Just head back to the office, I’ll be back shortly.”

Juvia hesitated, but nodded her head and walked straight back to her office swiftly without giving the two of them another look. Touka looked smug as she turned back to look at Natsu, but flinched when he gave her a stern look. 

“I know it’s you giving Juvia hell and I’m here to say you better stop that shit. Funny thing is, Juvia would most probably snap you in half, but she’s willing to turn a blind eye. I’m childhood friends with Bisca too, you wouldn’t want me to go running my mouth to her about workplace bullying now, would you?”

“No,” Touka squeaked out. She released his tie immediately and Natsu stood up to his full height, a smirk playing on his lips.

“I’m glad you finally saw some reasoning. I’m not into you and I never will be. I’m already seeing someone at the moment and Juvia’s a friend of mine. Don’t push my buttons for the month I’m here, got it?”

Touka nodded quickly, staring down at the floor. Natsu decided to leave her be as he headed back towards Juvia’s office. He sighed, hating the fact that Juvia had seen them in such a compromising position. Not like it mattered, it’s not like the two of them were dating or anything. They didn’t even hold any romantic feelings for each other. He just sensed from the way that Touka was talking about her that she was the one causing Juvia grief for no damn reason.

He managed to open the door using his elbows and Juvia glanced up at him while he placed the mugs on the table.

“Natsu has very quickly become a victim for maneater Touka. How did that go?”

“That was fucking hell. You make it sound like she does that with a lot of men.”

Juvia gave him an incredulous look as if she were surprised that he hadn’t heard of her reputation before. Touka was someone who was notorious for getting guys to fall at her feet.

“Is Natsu kidding?! Maybe it’s because your department is on the East wing of the building, but here on the West, her reputation precedes her!  _ Everyone  _ knows about Touka the tease! She loves a good one night stand and usually, no guy can back away from her. They love that confidence that she oozes out and you know, she gets the guys. So is Natsu gonna...you know...?”

Natsu shuddered. “Absolutely not. I told her I’m seeing someone currently.”

Juvia snorted into her cup of coffee. “Juvia is now being used as a way to get annoying people off your back? Juvia is touched to be Natsu’s first choice.”

“Shut the hell up, I really just wanted her gone. So fucking persistent. She definitely has the attitude for sales. Don’t worry though, I didn’t mention you.”

Juvia hummed in agreement as she soaked up the caffeine in her coffee. “When was the last time Natsu had a cigarette? Is the little competition with yourself going good?”

Natsu nodded, excited. “Yeah, it’s going pretty good! I haven’t had one since Friday! I mean, I was nursing my hangover pretty much all of Saturday and then when we met up I didn’t feel like I needed one. Same with yesterday. Then this morning I was thrown to the floor, and spilt my coffee all before our Monday meeting. Suddenly I needed to light one up.”

He was still fuming a little bit at the fact that Lucy had gone that far just to find out about his date on Saturday. His laptop was finally on as he showed Juvia the checklist. He emailed it over to her, starting their project as well as talking about the weekend.

“What did you say to get thrown to the floor?”

Natsu shrugged. “I didn’t. The meeting started and I didn’t get to say how it went or go into details like she wanted me to. However, I told Bisca it went really well and that we’re planning to go out again this Saturday. Bisca’s chill, she doesn’t wriggle her way into people’s situations. She’s not even the slightest bit curious as to who it could be.”

Juvia nodded. “That sounds like Bisca. Oh well, Natsu can just tell them that rest that the date went well, right?”

He gave her a pointed look. “Details. They want fucking details. I’ll give it to them too if it means I won’t get knocked over by Luce every damn time.”

Juvia snickered at his misfortune. “Then just tell them what we did? Maybe miss out the people that saw us like that old man and your sister. They might let loose that they saw the two of us together. But at the same time, Juvia doesn’t really care if we get caught. Juvia is fine with this.”

“Well you shouldn’t be. But seeing as you’re being so cooperative, I’ll take you up on the offer. Don’t get mad when I cockblock a guy you actually like.”

Juvia rolled her eyes at him in exasperation as he just grinned at her reaction. It was nice having back and forth banter with someone who wasn’t prone to hitting him and even when she did, it was really light. She didn’t get mad easily and he liked that. He knew that every little thing he did for fun around Lucy would piss her. Looking at things now, would they even be a good couple?

“Okay Natsu, show Juvia just how good at your job you are.”

* * *

Natsu let out a moan of pleasure. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he looked up at the ceiling, his mouth hanging open. Juvia watched him through satisfied eyes as she looked smug, a sharp glint in her eyes, a simple smirk on her lips.

“Fucking hell Juves.”

That was a nickname that he had started giving her and it always sent shivers down her spine. Meredy was the only friend who had given her a nickname, so she felt like her and Natsu really were good friends now. Very close indeed. 

“Juvia told Natsu that she is a good cook.”

Natsu moaned again, the flavours hitting him all at once. There was spice, a lot of it. There was also flavour, seasoning and the fish was cooked right. Fuck she’s good at this.

“You did and you ain’t fucking lying. Shit this is so good.”

“What the hell is going on here?”

Touka appeared at the lounge door, almost as if she were horrified. The two of them blinked at her as she stared at them, jaw slacked. To her it sounded like someone was  _ fucking  _ in the lounge and she wanted to see who the hell it was. She had heard Juvia’s name and she could have sworn that was Natsu’s voice. Only for them to be eating?

“Um...”

“Natsu doesn’t know how to be silent whenever he tastes good food. Sorry, Touka-chan.”

Juvia smiled at her and Touka flinched. She had always thought that Juvia’s nice nature was a lie and that she was actually mean. Time and time again she had shown that she actually was a nice person and wanted no arguments. Well, it was her brother’s fault. Maybe if he hadn’t toyed with her she wouldn’t have thought that Juvia was a bad person. Not like Juvia ever knew that they were a thing.

Her eyes slipped to Natsu who was giving her a cold glare and she took a step back almost out of fear. His attention then turned back to the food and the moaning started all over again as Juvia just giggled at him. Touka sighed and backed out of the lounge to head back to her office.

“Maybe Natsu should keep it down. People are going to get the wrong idea.”

Natsu waved his hand. “In a department where everyone is so sexually free? I find that hard to believe.”

Juvia laughed and continued eating. Natsu looked at her before deciding to ask a dangerous question. He wasn’t sure how she would take it or if she would even answer it.

“So what about you? You slept with anyone in your department?”

She choked and he was alarmed. He leaned over and started hitting her back as rice practically flew out of her mouth. She gave him a look of death as she grabbed her water bottle to drink her water and he at least had the decency to look guilty.

“What kind of question is that?! It’s a bit personal, isn’t it?”

Her cheeks were a light shade of red as she looked like she didn’t want to answer the question. Natsu felt his throat clog up a little bit. He felt like a dick for asking such a question.

“No.”

Her voice was small, but he managed to catch it. He didn’t know why, but a huge grin grew on his face and relief flooded through him. He felt relieved knowing that she hadn’t screwed anyone in her department like they all seemed to indulge in. It was probably why they left her out of a lot of things. He had felt like no one really spoke much to her around here and it didn’t sit right with him.

“What was that?” He pretended like he didn’t hear her so that he could get her to say it louder.

“Juvia said no! Juvia isn’t into doing stuff like that! Juvia will do it with a boyfriend, not a one night stand! Or at least with someone she likes. Juvia hates the idea of having sex with someone she doesn’t even get along with, just to itch a scratch.”

Natsu felt attacked. He knew that she wasn’t judging anyone who did, but he felt bad that he had had so many one night stands in order to scratch his itch. It was a typical guy thing to say.

“Oh.”

He saw Juvia look up at him before looking back down at her food. 

“So Juvia is right in guessing that Juvia has slept around in his department?”

He shook his head quickly. “Oh hell no! Never done that! The only girl I liked in my department was obviously Luce, but y’know where I am with that right now. I’ve had many flings I guess with girls outside. Usually meet a girl in a club and stuff. I used to have a fuck buddy before she got herself a boyfriend. I don’t do shit like that anymore though. I think it’s been well over a year since I last slept with anyone.”

The blush seemed to intensify on her face which made Natsu confused. He finally realised something and he almost felt scared asking it.

“Juves...are you a virgin?”

He jumped when she slammed her bento box closed and stood up sharply, knocking her seat over. She didn't even so much as glance at him and she walked straight out of the lounge and towards her office. Natsu stared, wide eyed at what had just happened and two guys walked in.

"Man, I wonder what's pissed Juvia off? She's  _ never  _ mad!"

"I know right? But you have to admit, she looked pretty fucking sexy just now."

"Dude, you make it sound like she's not fucking sexy everyday. I wanna see what kinda body she's hiding under those clothes. We've seen every girl's body here but hers."

"Because she's so damn frigid."

"I think she's just shy. She doesn't understand how much every guy wants her around here."

The two guys turned on the game console, never once noticing that Natsu was at the table, listening to every loud word they had just said. He looked back to see her passing the lounge and he knew immediately where she was going. Sighing to himself, he scraped his chair back, gaining the other two men's attention.

"Oh hey man! We didn't even notice you there. How d'you like it here in sales so far? Less numbers here, right?"

Natsu gave them a half hearted smile. "Yeah, it's pretty chill here. I like it. Anyway, I'm off for a smoke."

They waved to him as they focused on the game they were playing instead and Natsu slipped out before he would end up joining them. He needed to go and apologise to Juvia right now.

He got down to the cafeteria and as he was about to slip to the smoking area, he heard Lucy calling out to him. He sighed in annoyance, but when he turned his head, he saw Juvia sitting there. She didn't look back at him and he wondered if she was avoiding looking at him. Gray didn't look too pleased either and Natsu could be his bottom dollar that it was because of Juvia’s presence. 

Natsu sighed once again and wore a fake grin to keep up with appearances. He really didn't want to have to face them.

"Hello you! So how's it going in sales? By the way, you remember Juvia, right?"

Natsu almost glared at Lucy, but he nodded. "The girl who was obsessed with Gray, right?"

He felt Juvia bristle next to him and he almost swore at himself. Why the  _ fuck  _ did he have to go and say something so stupid and insensitive?

_ "Great, now even Luce is looking fucking uncomfortable." _

"The key word is  _ was _ , Natsu-san. There are no more feelings there."

_ “I’ve definitely fucked it, she’s back to using honourifics with my name.” _

She finally turned to face him as she propped her head up using her hand. She looked bored sitting there and Natsu looked down in her lap to see her other hand fidgeting with her box of cigarettes. He took a quick look over at Gray to see his reaction and he looked pretty calm, as though he were happy that Juvia's crush on him was dead.

"Oh yeah? That's good. You get nothing out of liking that bastard anyway."

Gray growled and Lucy sighed in annoyance while rubbing her temples. She hadn't missed the back and forth arguing and she gave Juvia an apologetic look.

"Sorry, the pair of them don't know how to behave like adults yet. They're always fighting like children. You get used to it, but you also don't get used to it."

Juvia just giggled and nodded her head as she watched the both of them argue it out. Her eyes watched Natsu's movements and she watched how good he looked with a smirk on his face, which would then switch to anger whenever Gray said something that would get the best of him. They really fought like brothers.

"Aren't you guys going to eat? Where's your food?”

Lucy was pointing at the both of them and Natsu pointed at the smokers area. “We’ve already eaten, so we were gonna head out for a smoke.”

The couple looked at each other to make sure they heard him right and Juvia offered Natsu a cigarette, which he took graciously. Juvia took one herself. She couldn’t help the smile on her lips, watching as they were confused as to why they were interacting together.

“We? How have the  _ both  _ of you eaten already? How the hell do you know each other?”

Natsu shrugged. “Juvia’s my partner for the project. It was good seein’ a familiar face in sales. We already had lunch in the staff kitchen and came down to smoke.”

Lucy’s head snapped to Juvia with an embarrassed look on her face.

“Oh, I didn’t know you worked in sales.”

Juvia smiled and waved her hand as she stood up. Natsu took this as the perfect opportunity to do so as well. 

“No harm done. Natsu didn’t know Juvia did as well. Ano...it was good seeing you guys! Is Natsu coming?”

“Yup.”

Whether Lucy gave him a look of disgust or not, he didn’t know and he didn’t care. He headed straight out with Juvia and pulled out his lighter when he saw Juvia patting down her pockets in frustration. She thanked him before remembering what he had said and moved away once her cigarette was lit up. Natsu noticed this immediately and sighed as he came and sat down with her.

“Juves, I’m sorry. It was a personal question that I shouldn’t have asked. I didn’t mean to hurt you, honestly.”

Natsu wished she hadn’t looked at him then, but she did. The look in her eyes made him feel even worse. You could tell that the years of being spoken about behind her back had just come to the surface and he had never felt this bad before.

She tried to smile, but Natsu could tell she was forcing it. “It’s okay, Juvia just overreacted.”

“Stop that. Stop trying to smile even if you’re pissed off. I didn’t mean it in a way where I could laugh at you for being one, I was just being nosey. I think it’s cute if you still wanna be a virgin. As long as you ain’t forced into doing anything you don’t wanna so, that’s all that matters, right? If I say something wrong, let me know, don’t let it slide.”

She laughed a little bit as she exhaled her smoke. “Sometimes, Juvia gets very innocent but stupid vibes from you.”

“Hey!”

“But Juvia likes it. Juvia had an ex before she met Gray that was really horrible to her. Wanting sex was something that he always wanted from Juvia, but she never gave it to him. Juvia knew that the moment she did, he would leave her. Eventually we broke up. Juvia had to make sure that he was the one to break up with her first otherwise his pride would never let him accept that Juvia did it himself. That’s why doing it with someone that Juvia at least likes is very important to her.”

Natsu nodded as they both inhaled and released the smoke together. He decided to move the subject on.

“Did you see their faces when I let them know that we had eaten together?”

Juvia was alive now, mirth in her eyes. “Oh Kami, that was so hilarious! They were so shocked. “We?” Juvia was wondering if Natsu would let them know that we’ve already met. Juvia doesn’t know why she’s finding this so fun. Natsu is such a bad influence.”

Natsu grinned. “But you love it. How did you put it again? You like ‘em crooked.”

Juvia blushed at the memory of what help she had said when she was in Natsu’s arms, but otherwise ignored him and tried to defend herself. “It’s unfortunate for Juvia to say, but yes. Juvia is really enjoying this little story that Natsu has come to make up. You should have written a book.”

Natsu made an action as if he were vomiting. “Me? Write a book? That’s Luce’s hobby, not mine.”

Juvia snickered as she flicked the ash off the bottom of her cigarette, prompting Natsu to also do the same.

“That sounds like Gajeel-kun’s girlfriend. She’s a writer. Quite a good one as well actually. Sometimes it makes me wonder how he got himself a bookworm for a girlfriend. He did say he’s trying to change his lifestyle, Juvia just never believed it. Oh well.”

“Man, that tin can bastard has a girlfriend and I don’t? I’m definitely doing something wrong. Help me out here Juves.”

Juvia gave him a beguile look before looking thoughtful. “Hmm, well judging by Natsu’s past like, a really beautiful girl with a nice figure and blonde hair? Also one who’s not scared to beat him up.”

Natsu’s eye twitched. “Wrong. I don’t think I have a type. Well I would like to think that anyway. All the girls I’ve been with, none of them looked like Lucy. Maybe just a girl who  _ won’t _ beat me up easily. I’ve had enough abuse from both Luce and Erza to last me a lifetime. Maybe a really chill girl who won’t get as pissed off with me as she’s supposed to. Oh, and she can’t fucking complain about me smoking.”

Juvia nodded and tried to think. “Juvia personally doesn’t know any girls who are single and like that. They’re all taken.”

Natsu rolled his eyes. “Of fucking course they are.”

Natsu decided there and then that Juvia was either being humble or she really was as clueless as those guys said she was. The only girl that he could think of that fit that whole criteria was Juvia herself. She was calm, cool and collected. Never really hit him with the intention to hurt him and she smoked along with him. Besides, if Lucy was in the situation she was in, she wouldn’t be able to lie to save her life. 

Also, Lucy  _ knew  _ she was hot. She had used her looks on more than one occasion to get what she’s wanted. She would flaunter whatever she’s got, get what she needs and then disappear from the scene. Natsu didn’t personally care, but he didn’t see Juvia as that sort of person. She didn’t know she was just as beautiful as Lucy was.

Natsu could almost laugh at how pathetic he was. So in order to get over Lucy he’s now looking at the next girl? How sad is his life right now? Was he that desperate for a girlfriend? For someone to love or for someone to love him back? 

“Hey Natsu? We should go back inside now. Our lunch break is almost done.”

He looked up to see Juvia standing directly in front of him. Her eyes were soft as she looked at him and he nodded his head at her, grabbing the hand that she held out in front of his face. He gripped it tightly, standing up as they made their way to the door. They saw Gray and Lucy still sitting there through the window and they released each other’s hands before walking back inside. There was no reason for them to see them holding each other’s hands.

“You guys are actually still here? Funny, I always come back from having a smoke and you guys have gone off to some closet. Probably even having some office sex somewhere.”

Juvia nudged Natsu with her elbow, but even he could tell that she was trying her best not to laugh at what he had just said. Gray was ready to come and knock his lights out, but Lucy just covered her face in shame. Natsu burst out laughing.

“I was just reaching, but the look on Luce’s face says it all!”

Gray didn't like Natsu antagonising his girlfriend. “Oh fuck off you cunt!”

Natsu shrugged. “Do whatever you need to do I guess. Everyone’s got some sort of kink. I would be surprised if you  _ hadn’t  _ done it. Anyway, Juvia and I are heading back now. I guess I’ll see you at some point.”

Just as they were walking away, Gray called out to them. “Oi, Lucy and I are meeting up with some of the gang this Saturday. We’re thinking of going to watch the Magnolia Storm game. I know how much you hate ice hockey, but we’re going for drinks after. You in?

The both of them froze up and Natsu almost cursed out loud. He looked at Juvia out of the corner of his eyes and saw that she was looking down at the ground. She wasn’t really a part of their ‘squad’ and Natsu knew that she knew that she wasn’t. It was kinda cruel of him to bring it up in front of her. But that’s why Natsu was a people’s person. He turned and shrugged half heartedly at Gray.

“Yeah, sure. I’m guessing you’ve got tickets for two?”

Gray’s family were loyal as hell to the Magnolia Storm. They all had season tickets and even extra perks added on top, seeing as they were loyal fans. Natsu didn’t give a shit about ice hockey, but would go to the games because Gray always had a free ticket. He should have known from the moment that Gray stopped inviting him to the games that he had gotten himself a fucking girlfriend, who just so happened to be Lucy.

“Uh, well. I’ll see if Lyon is coming out with Meredy this weekend. I can only get one spare ticket.”

Natsu rolled his eyes. Gray was so clueless sometimes. You don’t invite someone out in front of another person that you’re  _ not  _ inviting. Even Lucy looked uncomfortable as she glanced at Juvia, wondering if it was okay for Gray to leave her out.

Juvia reached out and touched Natsu’s forearm. “Juvia’s going to go ahead and head back to the office, okay? You guys can sort yourselves out. But please Natsu, Juvia doesn’t want to come and find you after taking so long and finding you in a compromising position with Touka-chan.”

She burst out laughing as she moved away from him and Natsu forgot about the other two, waving his fist at Juvia as she went. She was NOT going to get the final laugh.

“She’s the one who fucking came onto me!”

“Yeah, SURE!”

“But it's true! I might not have a type, but she ain’t it!”

Juvia made a motion with her hand that showed she thought that Natsu was talking too much and he growled at her back. He had half a mind to chase her down the hallway, but he still had to sort out Saturday. That was his day with his date. He might as well just tell them.

He sighed and turned back. “Good thing I hate ice hockey then, huh? I’ve actually got another date on Saturday. We really hit it off and we’re going for another one. I don’t actually know if she’s into ice hockey, but we already made plans anyway. Maybe another game?”

He didn’t even bother waiting for their reply as he just waved to them while walking away. He managed to catch up quite quickly to Juvia and reached out for her elbow. She turned to see him grinning down at her.

“You didn’t think I was gonna miss our date, didya?”

Juvia shrugged. “Juvia thought Natsu was going to consider it. After all, he hates ice skating.”

He ruffled his hair, shaking his head. “Yeah, that’s true, but we made plans already, right? I can’t just ditch you for some ice hockey game. Ice skating is pretty much the lesser of two evils. At least I’ll get to do the skating myself rather than watching someone else do it.”

“So then what is Natsu’s favourite sport?”

“I’m a big sumo fan.”

Juvia gave him the up and down and he felt a little...exposed? Almost as if she were judging his physique based on his love for the sport and he didn’t really feel like that was fair.

“Juvia can see it.”

He blanched. He was most certainly  _ not _ fat. True say he did have a chubby phase when he was younger, but he’s pretty much been going to the gym since he was allowed to. His older cousin is a personal trainer, so he had been mentoring him until he didn’t need any help anymore.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Natsu is violent and crazy. Yet he has a hint of tradition. It’s nice.”

A silly smile crawled up on his lips when he heard that. He didn’t know why being complimented by Juvia made him feel like he was walking on air.

“But thank you for at least thinking of Juvia back there. Gray can be a bit...thoughtless sometimes. He used to be like that in university as well. It always hurt Juvia so much when he did that, but Juvia came to realise that there was no malicious intent behind it because he did it to other people too. So she learned to let it go.”

Natsu didn’t look convinced and he shook his head. “Nah, that’s not fair. If he doesn’t want to invite you, he shouldn’t invite me in front of your face. He has my number, he can do it privately. That prick doesn’t have any damn manners within him. Never get used to that, you deserve better.”

Juvia rubbed her upper arm, her cheeks glowing when he said that. She nodded her head as she unlocked her office door. “Juvia will keep that in mind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Really sorry that this update is late, I got a bit lazy. So to make up for it, I'm going to upload all the chapters that I should be up to right now, which is chapter 7! I apologise for any crappy spelling and grammar too! Thanks to everyone who left comments and kudos while I've been gone! You're all so appreciated!
> 
> Lolita-chan


	5. Chapter 5

Both Natsu and Juvia climbed out of Natsu’s car. It was no surprise that it was red, as that was his favourite colour. Juvia had found herself melting into the seat from the moment she got into it. It was getting colder now and Natsu had his car’s heating on full blast. She really liked that. She liked to keep warm, which was the complete opposite of Gray. That man still had the AC on even in winter!

“Is Natsu ready?”

She pulled out her bag from the backseat that contained her own skates. She watched as he heaved a sigh, staring up at the building in front of him. He shook his head, clearly having horrid flashbacks about this place.

“In all honesty, no.”

He locked the car door and Juvia came around the front so that she could loop her arm through his. He looked down at her and she just looked back up at him with an easy grin.

“Oh please, Natsu should stop being so dramatic. Juvia will be here every step of the way to make sure that you don’t fall. Well, Juvia hopes she’ll be strong enough to hold the both of us up. If we fall, we fall. It’s the way of life.”

“Whatever you say, Juves.”

Natsu will never know the full extent of how that nickname made her feel. She felt more warmth rush through her body and she felt like hiding her face. She really hoped she wasn’t blushing, because that would be something else to add to the embarrassing list.

They waited in the queue for their turn to pay and when Juvia brought out her purse, Natsu had already paid with his card. Juvia stared up at him like a fish as he dragged her away.

“Natsu! Juvia was meant to pay for this! She asked you out!”

He shrugged, laughing. “It’s no big deal, right? I was closer to the cashier and my card was ready. I decided to pay, no sweat.”

Juvia looked at him and saw a smirk lingering in place. He looked devilishly handsome when he did that, but it usually meant that he also had something else up his sleeve. Something else that was going to make Juvia go ballistic. She sighed the moment she realised what he was doing.

“You’re waiting for Juvia to foot the food bill at the restaurant, aren’t you?”

“You’re as sharp as ever Juves. I love that about you.”

She tried her best to ignore the last sentence, because he definitely meant nothing by it. It was just a phrase that people say to their friends all the time, and that’s what they were going to remain as. Friends. Nothing more and nothing less. Instead, she focused on his trick.

“You don’t have to use such underhanded tactics to get Juvia to pay. Juvia was already planning on doing that anyway. Besides, Juvia is still not familiar with the restaurants around here so Natsu would have to pick where he wants to eat after.”

“I’ve got no problems with that at all.”

They made their way to the skate hire counter and Natsu gave the man his size. In return, he gave him his shoes and the skates were handed over to him. They found an empty bench where they sat and changed over their shoes and their skates. Juvia finished first and had already walked up to the closest locker to them. She peered in and sighed.

“Oh, Juvia didn’t realise we had to use jewels to pay for the lockers. Juvia is used to having her own padlock. Does Natsu have any change?”

She was looking over her shoulder at him and he nodded, coming up behind her. She barely had any time to move away so that he could lock the locker himself when he placed his left hand on her left hip and placed the change in the locker. Juvia could have sworn that he had just knocked the breath right out of her. They were so close, with Natsu towering over her from behind. His well sculpted front was resting on her back and he was so oblivious to her reaction.

“There, all done. Are you holding the key, or should I?”

“Ano, Juvia will hold it.”

She almost short circuited and she could finally breathe the moment that Natsu stepped back and away from her. His extra body heat left her as he released her hip, but not after squeezing it. Her head snapped up to look at him, but he probably hadn’t meant to do it, because he was handing her the key without even looking. He hadn’t done up his laces, so his attention was still on them.

She said a quiet thank you as she reached into his hand to take the key. Their hands brushed gently across each other’s and Natsu lifted his eyes to catch hers. They both stared at each other, their gaze unwavering it. Some sort of emotion that Juvia hadn’t felt in a long time seemed to bubble at the surface, but the connection was cut off the moment that Natsu looked down to sort out his laces.

Juvia was bewildered.  _ “What the hell was that? There is no way that Juvia likes him like that, right? Well, he is sinfully handsome, Juvia can admit to that. But why is he staring at Juvia like he wants her the same way she thinks she wants him? This is so confusing!” _

“Yo, I’m ready now!”

Juvia was pulled straight out of her thoughts and she nodded as they made their way across the floor and over to the rink. She knew she really did have her work cut out for her the moment she saw that Natsu could barely walk on the ground. She remembered how he was the first time she had met him. He was absolutely hilarious, toppling over and landing straight on his back. Well, that’s because she was supposed to be in charge of trying to teach him but didn’t because she was trying to do everything she could to pull Lucy and Gray apart. That and he had stormed off of the ice. Well not this time.

“Okay Natsu, we’re going on the ice now. Hold Juvia’s hand and don’t let go until Juvia thinks it’s safe for you to do so, okay?”

He didn’t even need to be told twice. He clutched at her hand in a way that told her he was nervous, but willing to do this. She nodded her head and gently pulled him to the entrance. She stepped onto the ice and Natsu gingerly followed her. His other hand immediately shot out for the side and his feet started moving comically. Juvia had to hold back a laugh. It reminded her of her first time she had tried to skate too.

“How are you?”

“I’m good.” 

She could practically hear the concentration in his voice. She then pointed with her free hand at her own feet. 

“Okay, well now you’re on the ice, it’s time to move. Watch Juvia’s feet. Push, push, glide. Move Natsu.”

He did so, but very slowly. He looked at her feet and then back down at his all while clutching onto the side for dear life. 

“There we go, you’ve got it! Juvia has to admit, you’re a fast learner.”

Because he really was. Although he stumbled a few times, it didn’t deter him and he was pushing along. Juvia was really impressed. He did seem like the sort who wouldn’t give up at doing something. He seemed like a go getter kind of person and Juvia really did admire that. She liked to watch people never give up at doing something.

“You’re really getting the hang of this.”

He nodded silently, and Juvia tried not to giggle at how cute he looked. This was pretty much the longest she had been in his presence and he hadn’t spoken. He actually looked like he was concentrating so hard. It was something that surprised her. Even when they had been working together all week, Natsu had proven that he was still talkative and managed to get the work done at the same time. It was a new world for Juvia as she was so used to working in silence, but she managed to get into the swing of things.

They went around the ice twice at a slower than usual pace for Juvia before she decided to stop. “Okay, now we’re going to go around again, but without you holding onto the side.”

Natsu looked alarmed as his head shot up quickly. He almost lost his balance because of that, but Juvia’s hand held him strong. “Um, are ya sure? I don’t think I was that great, I think-”

“Juvia thinks that you should stop making excuses. Come on, you won’t be holding the side forever now, will you? It’s time to let go and put things into practice  _ without  _ holding onto the ledge. Let’s go slowly.”

He sighed and almost tumbled the moment he let go. Juvia’s hand was firm as she kept him upright. She had gained enough strength by training with both her brothers, so holding Natsu up wasn’t all that difficult.

“Don’t let that put you off. You can do it.”

And he did. The push, push, glide technique worked wonders for him and soon he was laughing out loud. Juvia laughed with him, remembering the first time she had done that.

“Wouldya fucking look at that! I’m skating!”

“Don’t jinx it like everyone else does.”

“I won’t, I won’t.”

He almost fell forwards, but he caught himself quickly and Juvia snorted in amusement next to him. His grin was wide, almost like a child who had just done something to impress their parents for the first time. He was excited that he was finally getting the hang of this.

“You know what this means, don’tcha?”

Juvia shook her head. “Juvia is afraid that she doesn’t.”

“We’ve gotta keep coming back here. Me doing this only for one day ain’t gonna be enough. We need to come here as much as we can.”

Juvia felt herself blush as she nodded in agreement. He was right about that. She didn’t get good at skating after one day. His sister definitely didn’t become a figure skater after just one day either. He was going to need to come back and practice more and more.

“Okay. Skating can be our thing then. We will try and come here as much as we can if we’re not doing anything else, right?”

Natsu looked over at her, trying to hold himself upright like she was doing. “Our thing? I like the sound of that.”

He gripped her hand tightly and Juvia thought it was because he was going to fall, but he was pretty sturdy on his feet. She then squeezed his hand back. She could have sworn she saw his grin widen a little bit too.

“Oh, but what did Natsu tell Wendy on Sunday?”

“I explained everything to her. I can’t really hide anything from my siblings and I know they’re not gonna run their mouth to my parents. I did buy her those new skates though. That will definitely keep her sweet.”

“She seemed really cute.”

She smiled when she saw him roll his eyes. “Yeah and she is, when she wants to be. There isn’t a mean bone in her body, but the way she says things that seem insulting in an innocent way, you think maybe she isn’t so sweet. She was kind of upset that we weren’t actually dating though. She thought that maybe she would get a blue haired sister-in-law.”

“Sister-in-law?!” Juvia squeaked out which almost made the both of them fall. It was Natsu that had to stand them up straight and he threw Juvia a panicked look as if to tell her to behave. She apologised before Natsu spoke up again.

“Yeah, she wants to have a sister-in-law so bad as she’s the only girl, other than our mum. She’s bitter she never got a sister.”

Juvia laughed and nodded. “Juvia can relate heavily to that! Juvia herself is the middle child and she’s in between two brothers. Juvia wishes she had a sister.”

They went around the rink twice more before Natsu started complaining about his feet. And that he was hungry.

“You can carry on skating if you want. I know I held you back, so you can do what you need to do.”

Juvia took him up on that offer. “Juvia’s is going to do ten laps of the rink and then join Natsu for a snack. You won’t believe how many calories skating burns in general. We can come back on the ice after.”

“Okay, I’ll sit in the stands right here and count your laps. Then we can eat together.”

“On Juvia.”

Natsu nodded with a smirk. “On you.”

Natsu practically tripped his way up the step and made his way into the stands. The moment he sat down was the moment he sighed a huge sigh in relief. The load from his feet had been lifted and he couldn’t be any happier right now. He looked up to see Juvia watching him and he put his thumb up so that he could count her laps. He thought ten was a bit much, but then again, he didn’t know how fast she could really go.

She was off in a shot, his jaw dropping the moment he watched her speed off. She ducked and weaved in between people, turning to even skate backwards too. She did all this fancy footwork that he was sure he would never get the chance to do, even if he did practice. She was amazing and graceful. Very different from his sister who was forced to learn routines and be very prim. Juvia was like a speed skater with flair. She was breathtaking.

When she finished her final lap, she didn’t even need to stop before hopping up the step. She flew straight from the ice and onto the step, walking straight towards him in one movement. She was waving at him to come down and he scrambled towards her.

“Juves, that was fucking  _ insane _ ! Do you know how amazing you are?!”

She laughed and shook her head, not believing it for one second. “Oh stop, many people can do what Juvia can do. Even Gray can.”

Natsu frowned. “He’s the last name I wanna hear right now. I’m talking about  _ you _ . You looked really good out there.”

Juvia almost hid behind her hair. She hadn’t really been expecting the compliment and she barely knew what to say.

“Oh, thank you. Let’s go and get something light to eat, rest our feet and go again. Then Natsu can show Juvia somewhere to eat, sound good?”

“Yeah, sounds great.”

* * *

Maybe it was the food that he had eaten that threw him off his game a little bit, but Natsu fell down a few times when they had gotten on the ice. Juvia had done nothing but laugh, but she would always help him up. 

“I can’t believe I was ice skating for hours. Only you could make me do that, y’know?”

Juvia turned to face him and she decided that she really liked his side profile while driving. He looked really good while doing such a simple task and she almost felt herself combust. 

_ “Calm down Juvia, he’s only driving. But why does he look so delicious while doing so? Juvia thinks that he could actually be more handsome than Gray at this point. GAH, DID JUVIA JUST REALLY THINK THAT?! Okay, finding someone attractive is different from liking them, it’s okay.” _

She decided to ask him a question so that they could get the conversation rolling and take her mind off of things. “So what type of food does this place do?”

“Really spicy food obviously. Ironically, it’s next door to Gray’s favourite chain?”

Juvia made a face of recognition. “Oh! You mean that Frank Carnards place?”

“That’s the one. You know about it?”

He was looking at her now. They were at a red traffic light and his attention shifted from the road to her. She nodded her head.

“Yeah, he went there alot at uni. We had one on our campus. We ordered a huge take out from there at his surprise birthday party that I told you about. It’s nice, just really messy and sticky. Juvia’s not a huge fan of it, but she ate it to appease him.”

Natsu stared at her without speaking and Juvia was getting a little worried. She shifted, wondering if she had said something wrong, but then the lights went green and he was no longer looking at her. She silently released her breath that she didn’t realise she was holding. She didn’t think that he could be so intense.

“You did a lot for him, huh?”

She sighed and nodded her head. “Juvia did a lot for him, and it was so embarrassing when people kept reminding Juvia that she was doing girlfriend things for a guy who didn’t like her in that way. Juvia went out of her way to make sure he was happy. He was the first person to speak to Juvia at uni, so Juvia got excited. Especially because the first thing he said to Juvia was a compliment. Then it turns out we were in the same social circle and just hanging out with him made Juvia like him a lot. Meredy-chan and even Lyon-kun were convinced he was going to confess his feelings for Juvia, but he never did. And now here we are. He didn’t even know what department Juvia works in and we haven’t spoken in a little under a year. Life comes at you fast.”

She usually tried her hardest not to think about everything that she had done for Gray. It was one of those 3am thoughts and she was always asleep at 3am anyway, so they never came to her. But how stupid of her? To do girlfriend things for a guy who will never see her as such? At least good friends did the things she did too, but she could see that they never really were close, because he never gave her the same energy back. Yet she blindly tried for the three years that they were there.

She almost jumped out of her skin when she felt Natsu’s free hand intertwine with hers. She didn’t even notice that they had parked up and Natsu had a space directly outside his favourite restaurant. His obsidian eyes stared deep into hers, a serious expression written on his face. Juvia could barely blink, barely think, barely  _ breathe _ .

_ “Juvia has never seen him look so intense before. Was it something she said? Juvia hopes she didn’t offend him. But then he wouldn’t be holding Juvia’s hand if that were the case.” _

“Well all I know for sure is that you’ve got me. I ain’t like that. And hey, we’ve all been stupid for love, right? Luce used to call me if she thought her date was creepy and I would have to go and pick her up. Or she would drunkenly tell me things like ‘why can’t all guys be like you?’ I AM a guy like me!”

Juvia giggled and patted his hand with her free one. “Juvia thinks that’s horrible. Juvia is so sorry that Natsu had to go through that. One day Natsu, one day.”

He nodded. “You too. Now let’s go, I’m starving.”

He retracted his hand that Juvia had become so used to holding and she could have sworn she felt a little disappointment within her. She wasn’t supposed to feel this way regarding Natsu, right?

They walked into the restaurant and Juvia wasn’t sure if she should class it as one, or a cafe. Either way, it was a food establishment that Natsu enjoyed, and they also knew him. The owner’s face lit up at the sight of him.

“Natsu, my boy! It sure has been a while since I last saw you!”

Natsu practically ran away from Juvia in order to greet the short old man. Juvia found it cute that they were talking like old friends. She was right to think that Natsu had come here so much that he was probably one of their favourite customers.

“It’s been a long time since I last saw  _ you _ ! Where’ve  _ you  _ been?!”

The small man laughed. “I opened a new restaurant out in Hargeon! I have a grandson who is prepared to take over the business when it’s time for me to go! He lives there, so I helped him open a chain there and he’s been running it since. I just supervised him for a few months and now he’s got the hang of it, I’m back! I also see you’ve brought someone with you! I would like to say she must be Lucy, but you described her as blonde. However, this girl is just as beautiful!”

The two of them blushed, Juvia almost hiding her whole entire being away from him. Natsu looked back at Juvia who tucked a strand of her hair and gave them a bashful smile as she came forward. Natsu couldn’t help himself as he gave her a soft grin. Yajima wasn’t wrong when he said that Juvia was just as beautiful as Lucy.

“This here is Juvia. My date for the day.”

The old man turned to yell to his team. “GET OUT HERE YOU LOT, THE BRAT HAS A GIRLFRIEND!”

Both Juvia and Natsu almost combusted because that is NOT what Natsu just said. Dating and being exclusive we’re two different things, but for him to just call it out like that. The cooks all came out and cheered Natsu, the waitress pushing the ‘couple’ down into their seats. 

Natsu looked like he was ready to die of embarrassment. Juvia wasn’t too far off, but she soon started to giggle and enjoy it. They were all babying Natsu, and one could tell that they were genuinely happy for him. Juvia liked that.

“Ah, good of you to  _ finally  _ get you a girl who likes you back! I hope he’s treating you right, hun!”

Juvia nodded at the dark haired woman. She saw her name badge and it had ‘Kamika’ on it. “Natsu is really sweet. Juvia has come to enjoy her time with him.”

She wasn’t lying either. The last week had practically flown by instead of dragging. Natsu came into her life like a whirlwind and pretty much turned it around for the better. Instead of spending her weekends with a blanket wrapped around her and in front of the TV or baking goodies with Meredy, she found herself going out and enjoying herself. She had more than just Meredy, Lyon and her family to talk to.

A pink haired woman practically squealed at Juvia before giving her a hug. She wasn’t expecting it and she was practically squashed against the woman’s breast. She couldn’t help the blush that appeared on her face as everyone was screaming for her to release the poor woman.

“Wow, you are so CUTE! And you speak in the third person, how cute! Ah Natsu, she’s a rare one, don’t let her go, okay? If Natsu ever upsets you, let us know. We’ll stop serving him.”

That one made him wave his fist in anger. “WHAT?! Apart from my dad, I’m probably the only fucker in this town keeping you guys afloat!”

The waitress tutted with a smirk. “Such vulgar language in front of your girlfriend. Anyway, we know what  _ you  _ want, what can I get you, cutie?”

She released Juvia who was now staring at the menu. She panicked and looked over at Natsu for some help.

“Natsu can choose for Juvia. She trusts you to pick out something good for her.”

Natsu didn’t even hesitate as he ordered something seafood based along with some medium heat. The waitress nodded and winked. She was extremely impressed that Natsu knew what to get her and honestly, so was Juvia. She didn’t know that he had actually listened to her when they were questioning each other on their favourite things. She smiled down at the table.

“You’ve got it! You guys want any wine?”

Natsu shook his head as he handed over the menu for Cosmos to take. “Juvia can get the wine, I’m driving.”

Juvia smiled politely as she shook her head. “In that case, no wine please. Juvia doesn’t want to drink without Natsu.”

The woman put her hand on her chest with a pout that made her look like she was about to cry at the cuteness of the interaction. They both sweatdropped at her as she practically skipped into the kitchen, yelling out the order. Natsu snickered before turning around to Juvia with an apologetic look on his face.

“I’m sorry about that. The old man hears what he wants to hear and Cosmos is just as crazy as he is.”

Juvia chuckled with the shake of her head. “Juvia doesn’t mind this at all. They were so excited for you. Juvia guesses they know about how long you’ve wanted Lucy for?”

Natsu couldn’t help it as he scratched the back of his head, almost as if he were embarrassed, but he nodded. “Yup. I came back during the holidays in first year and they were asking if I had a girlfriend yet. I told them all about this blonde bombshell that I had really come to like. They’ve practically followed my journey up until now. I feel like deep down, they knew that Lucy was never gonna like me back, but they kept encouraging me anyway. Sometimes they would slip in comments for me to maybe find another girl, but you know me. I’m as stubborn as a bull. I didn’t listen. Now here I am, apparently dating you.”

Juvia nodded. “Apparently so. There’s going to be a lot of people disappointed if they find out none of this is real.”

Juvia’s smile was wiped off of her face the moment she said that. It was like realisation had finally dawned on her that they really aren’t a couple and that not only are they lying to a bunch of people, they’re also lying to themselves. It’s not even like they really have a solid reason for lying. This could have all been avoided if Natsu at least told Gray and Lucy that the first date was a flop. It didn’t need to carry on for this long.

“Yeah, they’ll all be crushed. But at the end of the day, that’s life right? People break up or stay together. However, I don’t think I could ever fake a break up with you. You’ve been a great fake girlfriend to me so far.”

Juvia’s heart thumped in her heart when he said that and she felt her body warm up.  _ “Why is what he’s saying affecting Juvia this way? It’s not fair!” _

“And Natsu has been the best fake boyfriend.”

They both stupidly grinned at one another before Natsu’s phone pinged. He pulled it out to see who had messaged him and rolled his eyes. Juvia craned her neck and Natsu showed her.

“It’s Gray trying to show me what I’m missing. Not much by the looks of it. I’m pretty happy having dinner with you here. I’m gonna take a picture of my meal and send it back to him!”

Juvia laughed and nodded. The phone pinged again. “Now they’re taking group pics. Nice. HEY! Let’s get a picture together!”

Juvia raised an eyebrow. “Um, but are you planning to send it to them?”

Natsu shook his head. “Oh hell no, this is just for us. I like to have pictures with all my friends and you’re no exception. Cosmos! Come and take a picture of us!”

Cosmos was over in a flash. She started telling them where to position their chairs for a good picture and Natsu placed his arm over Juvia’s shoulder. He held her arm as Juvia moved in closer to him. Her hand rested on his chest and Cosmo took a few shots. 

“You guys are really cute together! I like it. I’ll come and take some more when the food arrives.”

She handed Natsu back his phone as the duo went through his gallery, looking at the pictures.

“Send Juvia some of these, please! They look really good.”

Natsu made an impressed sound as he scrolled through, nodding his head as he did so. “We look amazing together. Better than Fuckerbuster and Lucy.”

Juvia had to hold back her laugh, but she failed miserably. “Natsu, stop calling him that. If Natsu says it too much, one day Juvia will end up calling him that too. To his face which will be bad too.”

Natsu burst out laughing as he went back to his seat that was opposite Juvia. “If you call him Fuckbuster to his face, I would literally love you forever! You gotta do it, Juves!”

She laughed, sipping on her water. “No! That’s just mean! Juvia isn’t mean.”

“Aww but Juvesss!”

“Aww but Natsss!”

He glared at her when she mocked him and she tilted her head innocently, as if she didn’t understand why he was looking at her that way. Before any of them could speak, their food came. Natsu looked like he was about to drool and even Juvia sat up straighter. The aroma was one to die for, just how will it taste?!

“Here you guys go! Natsu, put your fucking tongue away, no girl wants to see that. Well, not at the table anyway.”

As innocent as Juvia liked to think she was, she understood that innuendo in a heartbeat and she ducked her head down, trying not to let the two of them see her blush. She heard Natsu groan at what Cosmos said, but otherwise didn’t comment.

Instead, he stuck up his middle finger before grabbing his utensils. Cosmo stopped him quickly. “Pictures! Don’t give me that look, you can eat when it’s all done! Okay Juvia you come around this time and I’ll use your phone. Okay, get in position...SMILE!”

She took them quickly before Natsu threw a knife at her or something before she nodded in completion. “Okay, I’m done.”

Juvia darted out of her seat, grabbed her phone back for a few more pictures of the food before she dug in. Cosmos almost made a comment that they’re like the same person when Juvia’s eyes almost popped out of her head. The waitress and Natsu grew worried that maybe she didn’t like what they served her.

“Are you okay? You don’t like it?”

“No! Juvia  _ loves  _ this! Juvia usually isn’t all that great with hot spices, but this is amazing! Maybe because Juvia never paired hot sauce with anything good. But this is sooo good!”

Cosmos grinned at how cute she was being. She glanced over at Natsu who was looking at her and she winked at him, happy that he found a girl like him. “I’ll leave you guys to it then!”

Juvia nodded her head as she continued to eat, humming with delight. “Juvia is happy that Natsu brought her here. This food is marvellous.”

Natsu gave her a smug look. “I knew you would enjoy it. Only people with the finest taste buds can come here and eat this god like food.”

“So whose food is better? Here or Juvia’s?”

The man sitting across from her started stuttering. “H-hey! That’s not fair! I’ve been eating here for years and I only just started eating your food!”

Juvia laughed and shrugged. “Then choose between your mum’s food or here.”

Natsu gave her a look. “My mum’s duh. Ain’t nothing better than home cooking! My mum looks like a boss!”

“So then rate Juvia’s cooking then!”

“N-no.”

“That already speaks louder than words. Natsu likes here better than Juvia’s cooking and he doesn’t want to answer because he sucks at lying. Juvia will just have to up her cooking then.”

She watched as Natsu gulped, almost as if he were scared by what she was going to do in the future and she just smirked at him.

“Do you mean that you can cook better than what you’re cooking now? You’re cooking isn't shit, I’m not saying that! I just mean, your cooking is so fucking bomb now, you mean you can do better than that?”

Juvia nodded, pride swelling in her chest. Cooking and swimming along with making clothes was something that she was proud of. She wasn’t afraid to say that she was amazing at it.

They spoke more over dinner and even enjoyed dessert together. Juvia found herself laughing at every single joke that Natsu made, finding him hilarious. He was a lot funnier than Gray who was more happy to be silent. Gray was more of an introvert and she had accepted that about him, but she did notice that he was very lively when he was surrounded by the right people and unfortunately for her, she wasn’t one of them.

“Here is your bill. Card or cash?”

Juvia went to reply, but Natsu did it instead. “You know me, card.”

Cosmos laughed. “I do, and that’s why I brought the machine over. You footing the whole bill?”

“Juvia-“

“Yeah.”

Natsu tapped his card on the machine and Cosmo handed him the receipt all while Juvia was trying to find the right words to say. Cosmo then grinned.

“It was good seeing you again Natsu and it was really nice meeting you Juvia! Hopefully you’ll come again!”

Natsu grinned as he nodded his head. “You know it! Come on Juves, let’s get you home.”

He stood up and held his hand out to her and Juvia nodded, holding onto him as he gently hauled her up. She was going to let go, but it seemed that Natsu didn’t want her to. Juvia tried to hide her silly smile as she bowed to Cosmos whose eyes were shining brightly at them.

“Thank you for the delicious food!”

Everyone called out to them as they waved. People had started showing up in the restaurant while they were eating and Natsu even waved to a few of them. Juvia had to admit that she was surprised. Magnolia wasn’t one of those small towns where everyone knew everyone. It was huge and she could have sworn that this was the opposite side of town to where Natsu lives. He was definitely an extrovert.

“Natsu, Juvia was supposed to pay.”

She pouted at him, still standing hand in hand with each other. Natsu shook his head.

“They wouldn’t have let you pay, trust me.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. But he had purposely paid for ice skating so that she could pay for the meal, why would he do that? “So then why bring Juvia here then?! It was Juvia’s turn to pay for the date! Natsu’s been teasing Juvia about it all day!”

He smiled and shrugged very simply. “I know, I know. But I don’t mind paying.”

Juvia sighed, feeling bad that he actually paid for her. “Well then Juvia needs to pay the next time we’re out. Let’s do something that Natsu wants to do! Maybe something sumo based?”

She could have sworn she saw a twinkle in his eyes when she said that.

“Are you being serious right now? Do you know anything about sumo?”

She shook her head. “Juvia knows absolutely nothing about sumo. However, she’s willing to learn.”

That made Natsu excited. He had always done whatever Lucy had wanted him to do, but she never really did that for him. She thought that sumo was too boring and never went to any of the games with him. However, if she wanted a ride to the mall because she was too lazy to drive, he was the clown that was always there at her every beck and call.

He couldn’t help himself as he wrapped her into a hug. His arms snuck around her tightly, almost as if he were a bear. He brought her head into his chest because she was shorter than him. Juvia glanced up at him in confusion, but her cheeks were still a little red.

“Natsu-san?”

“Never change Juves, never change.”

She wrapped her smaller arms around him too, pulling him even closer into her. This felt nice, hugging him. He also smelt really good too and he felt so warm. She loved it.

“Juvia will make sure not to. Only if Natsu doesn’t change too.”

He nodded his head vigorously. It was as clear as day now. He liked Juvia. Sure he was currently lusting after her and he found her drop dead gorgeous, but now his feelings were starting to get involved. He knew he shouldn’t, but he always found himself comparing Lucy and Juvia in his head. They weren’t the same at  _ all _ . Well, they were both beautiful and both had hearts bigger than a mountain, but that’s where the similarities ended. Yet here he was, enamoured by Juvia just because she was doing simple things that he seemed to really like. She wasn’t flashy and nor did he feel the need to be flashy for her. Everything came to them naturally and he really liked that.

“I promise you I won’t change.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that chapter was good enough for your liking! Thank you so much for reading, it's always appreciated!
> 
> Lolita-chan


	6. Chapter 6

“Wait, wait, WAIT. You like Natsu?!”

It was Sunday afternoon and Juvia was making cakes with Meredy. It was their little side venture that they liked to do together. They had been really popular back in Oaktown. It had started off as a little hobby. Then their parents used them to make cakes for special occasions and whenever people complimented the cakes, they were directed to the two of them. So now they spent every Sunday making cakes for their customers, though it was usually Juvia who made them and then Meredy would decorate them.

Lyon raised an eyebrow in what seemed to be disgust.

“You’ve got no taste whatsoever. First my brother and now Natsu. This is why I tell you to wear your glasses more often.”

Meredy swatted her boyfriend with a tea towel and he dodged it with a laugh. Juvia gave him a sarcastic laugh as she rolled her eyes. She then thought a little more about the secret that she had just let them in on.

“Yes Juvia likes him. Juvia doesn’t see anything wrong with that, Natsu treats her well for the simple fact that we’re not even dating. He’s everything Juvia wants in a man and was never going to get in Gray.”

Meredy nodded in agreement. “That  _ is  _ true. Natsu is like a ball of sunshine.”

“And my brother is as dark as where the sun don’t shine. I hear you Juvia. I did always want to ask you if you were sure my brother is the one for you and  _ not  _ because I had a crush on you at the time and thought you should be with me. He’s always been on the colder side of things and not the sort to show his emotions. You needed a guy who would at least love you back with no bars held. Someone on the same passion level as you. I would say that Natsu’s all the above.”

Juvia tried not to be embarrassed by his deduction, but she couldn’t help it. She was well known with the way she fell in love. Unabashed and unashamed. Which is why it was so easy for her to tell both Meredy and Lyon about her feelings.

“Yeah, you and Natsu are so similar in that sense. Loads of people say opposites attract, but not all the time. You and Natsu are like two sides of a passion coin.”

Lyon and Juvia stared at Meredy as if to ask her what the hell she was talking about and she rolled her eyes before explaining.

“Both of you are passionate, but in different ways. Natsu is like fire. Burning, uncontrollable and hot. I’m not saying that he’s attractive, Lyon-kun. Relax. You’re passionate too, but more like water. You go with the flow, calm, cool, and pretty much the only one to keep up with fire. It would be a very nice dynamic relationship to watch.”

She then fed Lyon some of her creations and he hummed in delight, pulling her closer by her waist. She giggled as she was placed in between her legs and Juvia grinned at the sight of them. Most people would look away, annoyed that a couple was acting like that in their presence, but Juvia found it extremely cute. She now couldn’t help but think about Natsu doing that with her. His well toned arms wrapped around her, pulling her in for a kiss-

“Who are you going to give these to?”

Juvia slipped out of her fantasy as she thought about it. Juvia always made extras, be it for work for whoever. She had thought about giving them to Natsu, but she never did ask him if he has a sweet tooth. She only knew that he liked things spicy. However, he did mention that he would eat anything, so maybe it would be fine to give him some too.

“Well Juvia wants to get another tattoo, so maybe she should go and give some to Gajeel-kun to at least knock off the price a little bit. That and he will be mad if Juvia posts these pictures up on lacrimagram and Juvia doesn’t give him any.”

She started moving around the kitchen to clean up.

“Oh, are you going now?”

“No time like the present!”

Meredy smiled and used her hips to bump Juvia to the side. “Then you go. Lyon-kun and I will clean up here.”

Her boyfriend’s head popped up with a look of surprise on his face. “We will?”

“We will,” she responded with a sharp tone. Lyon sighed and nodded, standing up from the counter top that he was leaning on. Meredy smiled and fed him another bite of her cupcake and Juvia could see where this was going. They had those bedroom eyes and she knew exactly why they wanted her gone.

“Okay, Juvia is going to get ready and then head out. Please wait until Juvia is gone to start those extra activities, thank you!”

~x~

Juvia was NOT prepared for the sight that she had walked into. Like most tattoo and piercing parlours, there were two seats out in the open for everyone who went behind the counter to see, then there were private rooms for the piercings as well as more daring tattoos.

She didn’t realise that she was going to see Natsu. Shirtless. In her brother’s parlour as they were making banter with each other. Zera was the woman who pretty much ran the desk and dealt with all the piercings and did some certain style tattoos. She had greeted Juvia and let her through to the back so she could go and talk to her brother.

“He’s with a customer right now, but I doubt he minds. Though, even I’ve got to admit that the customer he’s with  _ is  _ cute.”

Juvia nodded and thanked her, wondering who this person could be. Only to stop dead when she got to see who her brother was tattooing. Her mouth was dry as she stared at Natsu’s chest. He definitely wasn’t lying when he said he goes to the gym mainly for the weights. His muscles were tight, and he was sporting a delicious eight pack. Juvia could almost imagine herself running her hands down them, feeling all those impressive muscles. 

_ “Zera-chan didn’t lie, he IS cute. Amongst other things of course.” _

They hadn’t noticed her standing there yet and Juvia almost stumbled when she saw the prominent V line heading down into his black jeans. Gajeel was giving him a half chest piece that then went into a sleeve on his right arm. She marvelled at her brother’s work, always impressed by the art he tattooed on people’s bodies. To see that said artwork on Natsu’s greek god body was just...was it just her or is it hot in here?

After calming herself down, she smiled brightly and headed towards them, grabbing Natsu’s attention. She couldn't help but beam the moment she saw him try to sit up for her and his smile widened at the sight of her. However, she couldn't let that distract her.

“Hello Gajeel-kun! Oh, and Natsu! Juvia wasn’t expecting to see you here!”

Gajeel didn’t even glance up at his sister. She knew he wouldn’t, not when he was in the zone with what he was doing. Natsu on the other hand had all his attention focused on her and it almost looked to Juvia like he was checking her out.

_ “Juvia was definitely imagining that, right?” _

“Yo Juvia! What’s up?”

“Oh nothing much. Juvia came to drop off some baked goods for her darling brother.”

That made Gajeel glance up briefly and she saw the smile that played out of his lips before he turned back to Natsu’s arm. It looked like he was getting a dragon. She shouldn’t be too surprised, he had said that he loved the ‘dragon chronicles’ which was the best movie franchise in his eyes. Juvia couldn’t help but smile too. She loved seeing people happy with just the little things.

“You want a discount on another tattoo, that it?”

Juvia gasped as if she weren’t expecting him to guess. “Well seeing as Gajeel-kun is offering, that would be nice, wouldn’t it? So what does Gajeel-kun say?”

“Fine. You’ll probably end up crying to dad anyway, and then he’ll make me give it to you. You spoilt daddy’s little Princess.”

Juvia laughed cheekily, pretending that she didn’t know what he was talking about and Natsu grinned at their interaction.

“So how the hell do ya know my sister, Dragneel?”

Natsu half shrugged with the shoulder that wasn’t being worked on. “We work at the same company and now we’re working together on a project.”

“And that’s it?”

Juvia frowned at how her brother was able to pick on things like that. Like just why is he perceptive as hell? It must have been all those stupid detective books that both him and Levy were somewhat crazy over.

“That’s it, Gajeel-kun.” Her tone was a lot harder than it needed to be and she swore at herself. Did she just give herself away? Probably.

Gajeel shrugged as if it weren’t any of his business and wiped away some ink.

“IF you say so. It’s none of my business.”

“Whatever.”

Her family were the only bunch of people who could bring out this side of her. Her more...aloof side. It was hilarious for Natsu to watch.

“You’ve got tattoos too, huh? All done by this bastard?”

“Wise words. Insult the man who’s currently doing your tattoo. I could make it shit.”

“Then you wouldn’t get paid. Besides, everyone knows that you can’t fuck up a tattoo even if you wanted to. It’s not in your DNA.”

“Yer saved yerself there with that compliment. I’ll allow it. But of course I’ve been the one to do all her work.”

“Gajeel-kun would literally tie Juvia’s feet to this building if she tried to go anywhere else. Juvia doesn’t have many. On Juvia’s right arm, just above the wrist, she has a sensory link tattoo. It’s a matching one that Juvia and Meredy got because we’re best friends. Juvia then has a mermaid on her left arm, along with an ocean sleeve. Juvia loves the water.”

“Let’s see then!”

Juvia started removing her jacket, and she didn't know why she felt like she was giving him a strip tease when that was the only item of clothing she was removing.

“You work together and you haven’t seen her tattoos?”

Natsu turned to him, wondering what his problem was. “Dude, it’s basically winter. Your sister wears long sleeve blouses. Of  _ course  _ I haven’t seen her fucking tattoos.”

“You wanna go?!”

At this point, it really did look like they were ready to jump out of their seats to attack one another. Juvia sighed and smacked her brother’s head as he was closer. He flinched and glared up at her with his red eyes. Juvia glared back.

“Be professional.”

“Yeah, Gajeel. Be  _ professional. _ ”

Juvia turned her attention to Natsu and practically loomed over him, an unimpressed expression on her face. Natsu smiled nervously. Her boobs were way too close to his face and he could see the dip into the valley. He was so close to reaching out for them, but Juvia already looked like she was going to slap him and then Gajeel would have a real reason to murder him.

“Natsu should stop antagonising Gajeel-kun.”

Natsu nodded quickly. Anything to get Juvia away from him right now. She probably didn’t even understand the amount of power she held over him right now.

She moved away from him and Natsu felt like he could breathe again. When Juvia was in close proximity like that, she bombarded his five senses. She was all he could see, hear, smell, feel and he wanted to get a taste of her so badly.

“Good. Well, Gajeel-kun is clearly busy today, so when can Juvia come back?”

Gajeel gave her an annoyed look. “Ame, what the hell do you want done?”

“Juvia was thinking that Gajeel-kun should surprise her.”

“A water dragon. You know it.”

Juvia was excited. They were all fans of the dragon chronicles and she didn’t mind seeing a water dragon on her arm above her sensory link tattoo. Besides, it would sort of match the one that Natsu has. It was weird, Juvia had always been against relationship/friendship tattoos, mostly because she always thought that the relationship would break down and now you have a stupid reminder of that person. But she had learned to lighten up and not be so pessimistic. Like what if the relationship didn’t break down? What if they were friends/lovers forever? A tattoo is also a nice reminder.

“Fine, Juvia is happy with that. Arm?”

“Yeah. Anywhere else on my own sister is fucking weird. I’m free on Wednesday. Go and book it in with Zera.”

She grinned and left a whole bag of the baked goods on the table. She hugged her brother before she waved a little bit at Natsu, surprised that he was still looking at her. 

“Juvia will see Natsu tomorrow.”

“Bright and early, yup.”

She took one last subtle look at his body before she turned around and went to book her appointment with Zera. She couldn’t believe that she had just stood in his presence while he was half naked like that! Did he understand how attractive he is? He probably didn’t, which was a shame. She felt like she had to fan herself.

* * *

Juvia decided to spend the day in Natsu’s department. Natsu did nothing but complain about it, so she wanted to see how the other half lived. First of all, she was horrified when she saw that people sat in twos at their cubicle/desk situation. There was literally no space for her to join Natsu at his desk and work in peace. The place was pretty rowdy, but she could work through it. She had enough practice trying to study through Gajeel's band practice when they were teenagers.

“Nice of you guys to join us! This place was a bit weird without Natsu here. Are you guys here all week?”

Lucy’s brown doey eyes bore into Juvia’s and she could see why Natsu fell for her. She was so enchanting that Juvia didn’t have a single chance. She could definitely see why both Natsu and Gray fell for her. She's so beautiful! She also didn’t know how to politely tell her that she didn’t want to come back here ever again. Luckily, she didn’t need to.

“Nah, Juvia wanted to see a different place for a day. Even if she wanted to come back here, I wouldn’t let her. Have you  _ seen  _ the sales department? It’s a different world! I’m gonna hate it when this project ends.”

He spun around in his seat and Juvia giggled and nodded at Lucy. “What Natsu said.”

Lucy looked amused as she shook his head at the way he had answered for her. “Natsu bossing someone around? Who are you, her boyfriend?”

“And if I was?”

Lucy just laughed. “The girl that you’re dating won’t like to hear you say you’re another girl’s boyfriend. By the way, how did that date go? To think you blew us off for a date, it must be getting serious now, right?”

Juvia almost let out a snort, but she managed to hold it in. Even Natsu’s grin was wide. They’re going to have to stop this game eventually. They couldn’t keep going on, but right now, it was a load of fun.

“Look, the date was already planned before I was asked to come to the game. But yeah, I had loads of fun. I can’t lie, she is a great girl.”

Juvia tried her best not to react. She didn’t like the fact that she was sitting in between Lucy and Natsu as Gray was perched on the side of Lucy’s desk. Natsu HAD warned her that it was something he did a lot and it pissed him off because he was clearly slacking on his work.

Gray shook his head in amusement. “Never thought I would see the day where Natsu is smitten by some girl.”

Juvia almost opened her mouth to let it all rip, had Natsu not placed his hand on her thigh under the table to get her to stop. Her eyes almost bulged out of her head as she just stared at her laptop screen, unable to say or do anything. It wasn’t fair. Why did they both think that he wasn’t capable of liking a girl romantically when he liked Lucy for so long? We’re they really that dense?

Lucy shook her head a little with scrutinising eyes. “I feel like maybe Natsu has actually had crushes and never told us. He’s sneaky like that. You never know what’s going on inside that head of his.”

Natsu gently rubbed his thumb in circles on Juvia’s thigh to get her to calm down. He had come to learn that Juvia was the sort of person to keep things inside of her until she burst. She also cared a lot more for others than herself. She would let anyone slander her and go to sleep happy, but if someone was ripping into a friend of hers, she hated it. The fact that they were both acting so obtuse was definitely pissing her off.

“Well because there was nothing to tell. We all came to an agreement. Fuck and then fuck off.”

Gray looked like he didn’t believe that. There was no way that Natsu got girls like that. “Do you even know what sex is?!”

“Fuck you, you prick.”

Gray laughed and Juvia stared at her screen, not really doing anything at this point. Her mind was still on the fact that Natsu’s hand was on her thighs! Lucy wanted to know about this girl.

“So where did you meet? In Magnolia, here in Crocus?”

“I thought I already told you, we met at the ice rink in Magnolia?”

“You did say! So is it someone that you and Gray are mutual friends with?”

Juvia could have sworn she saw Natsu glance at her out of the corner of her eyes. She didn’t want to get involved in this conversation at all, and tried to focus on the task at hand. She almost told Lucy to stop asking him questions that could be dealt with later. They were at work right now. But then she thought about Natsu’s hand that was still resting on her thigh.

“No. She’s from Oaktown. Recently moved to Magnolia though.”

Gray let out a low whistle. “You’re dating an Oaktown girl? Those girls are pretty rough, man. I could never.”

“Yeah, I fucking know,” was his sharp response. Juvia almost choked on the air she was breathing, Lucy was oblivious to the comment and Gray looked confused as to why that was mentioned.

“Um, Juvia is going to head out for a smoke. Anyone else coming?”

Of course the couple declined, but Natsu had never been more happy for a cigarette break. He felt like he didn’t really need one, but it was the best and easiest way to get out of that awkward and shitty situation.

The moment they got out into the corridor, they burst out laughing. They practically fell over themselves as they had to cover their mouths from laughing so hard. They didn’t want to alert anyone around them with stupidity.

“Natsu didn’t have to  _ say  _ that!”

“He fucking deserved it! Don’t tell me you weren’t thinking about it?”

“Juvia’s not the mean one here.”

“That’s your excuse for everything now, isn’t it?”

“Yup! Come on, let’s go.” Juvia had a lighter on her this time and she offered Natsu one of her cigarettes. She had forgotten to wear her cardigan when coming down and Natsu got to see her tattoos up close. Because of the argument that both him and Gajeel’s ended up getting into, he never got to see Juvia’s tattoos as she slipped her jacket back on. Now, he saw the maguilty sense tattoo and marvelled at it before he saw her shivering. He almost laughed because it looked like the mermaid on her arm was swimming.

“You cold?”

She nodded, inhaling on her cigarette. “Yes, but Juvia forgot her cardigan upstairs, so Juvia will suffer. We’re not out here for too long.

“When you’re with me, there ain’t no such thing as suffering. C’mere. You can wear my blazer. I don’t get cold easily.”

Juvia still didn’t look like she was comfortable in making Natsu cold due to her own forgetfulness, but Natsu sighed and shrugged his blazer off anyway. He kept his cigarette in his mouth before draping it over her shoulders. She was about to throw it back at him, but she sank into the warmth it gave her. She gave him a grateful smile.

“Juvia will remember to bring down her cardigan next time. She feels really bad.”

“Hey, I got to make a dig that Gray doesn’t understand and you laughed with me. That’s enough for me. Trust me when I say I ain’t cold. Again with the shot puppy look!”

“Juvia can’t help it! Maybe we can share the blazer?”

Natsu deadpanned. “Juvia, it only fits me and you want me AND you in there?”

“Oh...yeah...Sometimes Juvia doesn’t think.”

“I can see that.”

“Natsu is NOT supposed to agree.”

“But I did.”

“And this is what makes Natsu annoying.”

“Yet you keep hanging out with me. What does that say about you?”

“That clearly annoying people are the bane of Juvia’s existence.”

“No, it means it takes one to know one.”

“Is Natsu asking for a punch?”

“I don’t remember asking, so no.”

“Oh my fucking Kami, get a room!”

They both jumped and turned to see Touka there, angrily holding a cigarette as she listened to the two of them bicker. She hadn’t seen Juvia all day, but at least hoped for the eye candy that is Natsu. She didn’t realise that they were both in together. She also didn’t realise that goody two shoes smoked.

“Oh, sorry Touka-chan! Natsu here is a bad influence.”

Natsu smirked and sat back on the bench. “But she loves it really. I don’t think she can get enough of me.”

Touka raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said you’re dating someone? You seem awfully friendly with your coworker here. I hope you don’t plan on cheating on your girlfriend.”

Natsu and Juvia made eye contact and they realised that this little lie was starting to get a little too close to home. At the end of the day, it was Natsu’s lie, so whatever he said goes. Juvia was just there to roll along with whatever he was saying. At this point, it was now a little game to see how long it took people to connect the dots that they were ‘dating’ each other. It was too early to give away clues now. 

“We’re not exclusive yet. She’s got cold feet, so for now she’s allowed me to flirt with whoever I want until she makes up her mind. It’s her move at the end of the day. BUT, if she makes me wait too long, I’m single.”

Touka blinked before giving him a sly look. “Oh, is that so. Hmm, very interesting to know. I hope for your sake that she doesn’t take too long to choose, Natsu- _ kun.  _ I would also like to point out that I am a better choice than Juvia here.”

She stubbed out her cigarette and practically blew him a kiss in front of Juvia, who clenched her fist unknowingly. She didn’t really have any right to be jealous, yet here she was acting it. The moment she was gone, Juvia tried to act indifferent.

“Juvia did NOT guess that Touka-chan has a crush on you. That’s unfortunate.”

Natsu’s head whipped back around as they were finishing up. “Wait, for who? Me or her? And if it’s for her, what’s unfortunate about liking me?”

“Like Juvia was saying before we were interrupted, Natsu is annoying.”

“Still on with that? I’m not denying it because I know damn well I am, but I need my annoying partner in crime.” He nudged her in the side to let her know that he was talking about her and she tried to glare at him, but she betrayed herself by smiling. 

“But damn she is really trying everything in her power to sleep with me. I thought I made it clear to her the other day in the lounge that I will never go for her.”

Juvia blinked. “Is that what you were saying to her?! The message that you were giving to someone on the outside was far from that. It looked like you were flirting back! Juvia thought the two of you were about to kiss.”

Natsu was exasperated. “She grabbed my tie, tryna act sexy! I told her straight up that she ain’t my type and never will be. I also told her to stop tryna bully you, because I could tell immediately that it was her smashing your shit and throwing away your food. She’s so fucking jealous of your work ethics and how damn gorgeous you are.”

Juvia didn’t even know what part of his little rant to focus on first. The fact that he had deduced who it was trying to ruin her stuff in a mere matter of seconds, the fact that he threatened her on her behalf or the fact that he just called her  _ gorgeous. _ There was so much to unpack here.

“Okay, Juvia definitely has to commend you on your deduction skills. It took Juvia forever to try and figure out who it was and even then, she had no proof whether it was Touka-chan or not. Juvia just thought that if she was extra nice to her, she would stop. That was probably ammunition for her to keep on going. Secondly, only Natsu would threaten a girl with not wanting to sleep with her.”

Natsu shrugged, clearly finding the situation funny. “Nah, she just smelt like desperation. I would know, I have a strong nose.”

“Uh huh,  _ sure. _ Thirdly, Natsu just called Juvia gorgeous.”

Okay, now she was certain that he was checking her out. And he was doing it slowly, from top to bottom. 

They made eye contact once again and a slow devilish smirk made its way across his face. Juvia felt a flame light up within her and proceed to burn everywhere in her body. She had never felt desired before, but the look that Natsu gave her really did wonders to her body. He wasn’t even touching her and she felt like he was in control of her.

“Well  _ that’s  _ because you are.”

Juvia twirled her hair around her finger with a nervous twitch and she shook her head. She couldn’t help the happiness that just burst in her chest. She tried her best not to smile at the comment, but she could barely keep it off her face.

"Natsu is just saying that."

"Yeah, I'm saying that because it's true. You don't even realise how much of a fan club you have with the guys in your own department. Besides, just because you don't look like Luce doesn't mean I'm only attracted to girls that look like her. You're beautiful and don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise, you got that?"

Juvia bit her lip and nodded her head. Natsu just called her beautiful and he didn't even flinch or stutter. He said it like it was fact and that made it even more special. She couldn't help the smile that played on her lips as they finished up.

_ “Wait, did he say girls he’s attracted to?! Juvia is a girl that he’s attracted to? Is that even possible? Maybe Juvia is just imagining that. There was no way he said that, or at the very least didn’t mean it in a way that Juvia thinks.” _

"C'mon, let's head back up."

Like every time, Natsu held his hand out for Juvia and she always held onto it. They always held each other's hands innocently, but would drop it the moment they saw other people around them. Thank Kami Touka wasn't around to see them, because she will most likely put all the pieces together, or claim that Juvia is a homewrecker. Probably the latter because she wanted to ruin Juvia.

"You guys were gone for a while."

Natsu shrugged at Gray. "When you have someone you can smoke with, it takes a bit longer to come back. Every smoker knows that."

Lucy looked over at Juvia and was in shock when she saw Juvia in a blazer that was too big for her. She then looked over at Natsu and saw that his own blazer was missing. Juvia somehow caught the look and almost went up in flames, but she was pretty good at acting indifferent when she needed to.

"Oh, thanks for the blazer, Natsu. Juvia will have to remember her cardigan the next time she goes out for a smoke."

She slipped the blazer off and handed it back to him with a grin. The couple then realised that Juvia had tattoos and they couldn't help but come forward and stare at them in awe. Juvia raised an eyebrow.

"Are you guys okay?"

"You have tattoos! I've always thought about getting some, but I always chicken out! Did it hurt? How long did you have to sit in the chair? Who did them?"

Juvia chuckled at Lucy's questions. "Nope, they did not hurt, Juvia didn't have to sit for long for these ones. They're not that big of a job, but the mermaid took some time. Juvia's older brother was the one who did them and he’s a crazy tattoo perfectionist."

Gray pointed at the maguilty sense tattoo. "My sister has one of those. She got it with her best friend now turned boyfriend. It means that whatever one person feels, the person linked to you always feels the same way. It has a nice meaning to it."

Juvia raised an eyebrow and Natsu didn't really like how her attention was on Gray, despite her no longer liking him. He could practically feel that same jealousy that was eating away at him when he found out about Gray and Lucy's relationship.

"Yes, that's right! Juvia got it with her best friend! But Juvia didn't know that Gray had an older sister."

She was surprised that there was a family member of Gray's that she didn't really know about. She thought that she had learnt everything she needed to learn about him back when she used to...stalk him.

"That's because Ultear's like Erza, but on crack. She's fucking terrifying, she really makes Erza look like a teddy bear."

Juvia looked like she was ready to throw up when Natsu said that. How Jellal was able to date such a woman always made her brain hurt when she tried to think about it. To think there was a woman scarier than Erza made her head spin. Until she realised who Natsu had just spoken about.

"Eh? Ultear-senpai?!"

"You know my sister?!"

Juvia looked horrified as she turned back around to face Gray. She should have known! They had the same frosty personality and same dark features. Still, she couldn’t help but yell out.

"Gray's sister?! Are we thinking about the same Ultear-senpai? Juvia's senpai wasn't as scary as you guys are making her sound. Both Meredy-chan and Juvia were her favourite interns when we did our work experience with her. Oh, but now it makes more sense as to why Lyon-kun works at the same company as her..."

Gray pinched the bridge of his nose. "Of course she's nice to  _ you  _ guys. She's mean to family. Didn’t you notice her last name?"

Juvia shrugged sheepishly, realising that she never caught the woman’s family name. "Juvia was late for the introductions on the first day. By the time she got in, everyone was calling all our senpais by their first name, so Juvia joined in with them. They wanted to be seen as a nice, relaxed company who were on friendly terms with everyone. Juvia is  _ very  _ surprised that Lyon-kun never said anything though. Or maybe he did and Juvia wasn’t listening."

Gray sighed and Natsu laughed at his misfortune. It really was a small world, everyone knew everyone around them. It was scary. Juvia moved back to her seat for the day, right next to Natsu.

“Well, Juvia is going to try and get as much work done as she can before lunch. We still have a few things that we haven’t done and now we’re a little behind on schedule. Natsu?”

She looked back at him and he nodded his head, pushing Gray out of his way completely and snickered when his girlfriend held him back from fighting. Now wasn’t the time. Juvia had made it very clear to them that she was a hard worker and Natsu could get behind that. As long as they were going straight back to her department tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya cuties! I hope that this chapter was all to your liking! Thanks for reading this chapter, you're all appreciated!
> 
> Lolita-chan


	7. Chapter 7

“Let’s see it then!”

Juvia had to cancel her initial Wednesday booking with Gajeel because both her and Meredy suddenly had a big order to fulfill. Friday evening as the last customer was all that Gajeel had been able to do for her. She had agreed, because she really wanted it done. Natsu was excited to see the water dragon that she had gotten, seeing as he had a big love for dragons, just like her whole family.

She grinned as she got into his car and removed her jacket. On her right arm, her bicep had been taken over by a water dragon. Even the colours that Gajeel had used to design it was amazing. He surrounded the dragon with mist and it looked like water was dripping off of it. His eyes popped in awe, nodding his head.

“That bastard really is good at what he does. It’s a shame his personality is trash.”

“Watch it Natsu, that’s Juvia’s brother you’re insulting. Even though you are right. But that’s not the only trash thing about Gajeel-kun. Has Natsu ever heard him sing?”

Natsu looked horrified and very rightly so. “Can’t say I have.”

“Natsu should count himself lucky. Back when we were younger, Gajeel had a dream of being in a band. His music was top notch. Great melody and great lyrics. His voice...not so much. One day, Rogue-kun went and punched him in the throat, screaming that he should shut the hell up, he’s going to make us all deaf. And Rogue-kun looks up at Gajeel-kun like he’s a god or something. It was so funny, our dad almost died laughing.”

Natsu grinned as he set off towards their destination. They had to drive to Oaktown, Juvia’s old place for the sumo match. Juvia was extremely excited to watch the sport that Natsu had an interest in. It turns out that Natsu was a big fan of anything to do with martial arts and sumo was just one of them. To her, it was nice finding out about more of his likes.

“That sounds hilarious. Your family sounds almost as crazy as mine does.”

“Why is Juvia not surprised? Any family that Natsu is from must be crazy.”

Natsu laughed and nodded. “I can’t disagree with you there. Okay, did you do any studying on sumo?”

Juvia nodded. “Yes Juvia did! Juvia tried to watch as many matches as she could. It was so hard to understand first, but Juvia went onto lacrima-tube and started learning the rules to sumo first. Of course she started with the basics, like if anything other than your feet touches the ground you lose, if your knee touches the ground you lose. If you’re out of bounds, you lose.”

“Good, keep going.”

Juvia rolled her eyes at how patronising he was being, but she was happy to continue. “Eye gouging, hair pulling, hitting with closed fists, choking and hitting the... _ crotch  _ area are all illegal. Juvia is pretty sure there are no weight classes. Okay, then Juvia started with learning meanings. The terminology was so weird and foreign, so Juvia found herself googling them. And then Juvia watched the games. BUT Juvia still doesn’t really understand things.”

She watched as Natsu grinned at her, happy that she still knew all that. That was enough for him. “And that’s why we’re going to watch a match. I’m super excited that you’re coming! Man, Gray stopped coming to watch sumo games with me since we finished school and then Lucy never wanted to come with me. Zeref hasn’t got as much time as he would like because of his job.”

“Juvia doesn’t know much about your brother. What’s he like and what does he do?”

“Oh man, where to begin! Zeref is the best older brother. He always looks out for Wendy and I. Whenever I would get in a fight and I wouldn’t want my parents to know, he would always patch me back up and give me advice. Sure we fought a lot and he was way stronger than me, but he’s more level headed than I am. As for his job, he does something like international affairs or something. He always has to travel for his job.”

Juvia smiled softly at him which gave him the confidence to speak about his brother. She looked like she actually cared about what he had to say. So he spoke so freely and his admiration for his brother wasn’t faked or hidden. 

He soon came to a stop, feeling a little ashamed of himself. “Ah, sorry. I spoke a little too much, right?”

“No, no Natsu didn’t. Juvia loves listening to you talk about things and people that you like. It’s really cool to see a guy who’s really open with his feelings. Juvia really likes that about Natsu.”

Natsu almost slammed on the brakes hard when he heard that, but he composed himself. He wasn’t sure if Juvia had heard what she had just said, but she seemed pretty chill about it right now.

_ “She definitely means as a friend, right? This girl is gonna be the death of me, more than Luce ever was.” _

“Haha, thanks. I can’t be ashamed of my family, right?”

“Right. Juvia loves a family man. Family is everything to Juvia. Family and friends.”

“Because now you’ve got more friends than you had before, right?”

To anyone else, they might have thought that Natsu was mocking Juvia about having friends now when she never used to have friends before. To Juvia, it was just that he remembered what she had told him before. His voice was soft and caring and Juvia nodded her head, leaning back into the car seat.

“Yes. Because Juvia didn’t have many friends when she was younger because she was so quiet and shy. Juvia is happy that she’s come out of her shell and has met people that she would go to the end of the world for. Juvia’s even happy that she met Natsu.”

Natsu felt himself grin. His cheeks stretched almost till they hurt him. Such simple words, yet the emotion that Juvia had expressed behind them meant everything to him. He had never had a girl tell him that she was happy to meet him. Most punched him or just used him for his dick.

“You so like me.” He had to use humour to make sure he didn’t say something stupid and give himself away. He was pretty sure that he does like Juvia, but what if she didn’t feel the same way? Or if she didn’t feel the same way right now at least? He didn’t want a repeat of what happened with Lucy.

“Oh shut up. Wow, it has been a while since Juvia was back here.”

They were in Oaktown now and Juvia was staring out of her window, looking at all the people that they passed by. 

“Kami, is that  _ SOL _ ?! Wow, he wasn’t joking when he said he wants to grow a moustache like that!”

Natsu whipped his head around to see a man with the typical mafia-like moustache and he laughed in surprise. “He looks like an old man, how the hell do you know him?”

“He was one of the hooligans that Juvia used to hang with in school.”

Natsu balked. So he was the same age as Gajeel?! “Juvia, he looks like he came straight out of a mafia.”

The girl beside him giggled. “Juvia is convinced that he probably did. He was...different. But then there was Aria too. Aria was such a big cry baby, yet he was so powerful. One punch and he would end up knocking you out. Juvia hung out with many weird people to fill the loneliness. Honestly, she never really liked them, Juvia was just there because Gajeel was there. The moment they left, Juvia realised how alone she was and actually missed them.”

Natsu was about to say something about how she no longer had to worry when he saw someone that he really didn’t want to see. When he said he hated Gray, that was in a best friend/rival type of way. They fought like brothers, but they were cool. When Natsu said he hates  _ this _ guy, he means it with every fibre in his body that he fucking _ hates _ this guy.

“Is that  _ Totomaru?  _ That bastard, I’m gonna run him over!”

Juvia couldn’t believe it when she saw that Natsu was actually ready to drive off the road and onto the pavement to hit Totomaru. She screeched and she slapped Natsu’s hands that were on the wheel and pulled it back. “Is Natsu kidding right now?! You’re going to mount the pavement and run him over?! How do you even know Totomaru anyway? He was another one of Juvia’s friends.”

Natsu was pissed off at the missed opportunity to run him over like he had originally wanted to. They drove by the oblivious man and Natsu whipped his head around to look at Juvia with a sour look. He calmed himself down a little bit when he noticed her flinch at the look he was giving her and decided that running over Totomaru might actually not be worth making Juvia upset. He didn’t want to scare her with his stupidity. 

“ _ He  _ was a friend of yours?! He was my rival at competitions! Both in school AND out of school I was the best at karate in my school and he must have been the best in yours. We were always clashing. He was a fucking cocky little shit, that’s for sure. I hated him. I still do.”

He heard her give him an exasperated sigh. “Natsu, school was so many years ago, try to let it go. Juvia heard that Totomaru is a changed man! He’s even engaged and he’s a teacher in a primary school. He is definitely not the same person that Natsu knew before.”

Natsu grumbled as if he still didn’t trust anything that Totomaru was involved with. However, for Juvia, he will leave the situation alone. For now. “Fine, we’ll believe that he’s changed. And now we’re here!”

The sumo hall was a very popular one in Oaktown. It was just a place that Juvia had never been to. She was a swimmer who dabbled a little in ice skating, so she had never stepped foot into this building before. That was, until today. Natsu parked up and they got out of the car.

“When we get in, I’m gonna give you my wallet to buy some snacks and then I’m gonna go to the toilet. I forgot to piss before picking you up.”

Juvia snickered at him as they were waiting in line for their turn to head through security. They emptied their pockets and bags, making sure there were no weapons in any of them, got their tickets checked before heading in.

“Okay, so this is our stall. Get me the hot dog combo meal. Supersize. Get yourself anything you want too.”

He knew that Juvia was going to tell him that she could pay for herself, so he just high tailed it out of there. 

Juvia blinked at how fast he was gone and shrugged with a giggle. She found the line for the food and quickly joined the end before it started getting busy.

She couldn’t have been in the line longer than a minute before she felt someone behind her. She paid them no mind until they gasped and called out her name.

“I can recognise that blue hair from anywhere. Juvia? That you?”

She turned in surprise at the voice. She knew that voice anywhere and she had also hoped that she would never hear that voice again. Oh Kami was she disappointed the moment she turned around. She also couldn’t help but express her disappointment.

“Bora? Juvia thought you moved out of the  _ country. _ ”

He nodded, a grin set in place. Juvia hated that he was able to grin at her after all that he had done. He had sent her on an emotional rollercoaster during their last year at school and while she blamed herself for the way she acted with Gray, she also knew that Bora was the source of her whacky behaviour.

“Yeah, I did! But I only did that for university. I moved to Bosco, but decided to come back and see if I could get a job here instead. But wow, you look amazing. You still have that third person speech though. It’s cute.”

“Thank you,” she replied plainly. She wished that this conversation would end right now. She didn’t really want to talk to him and her tone conveyed that. Why was it now above all times that Natsu had decided to go to the toilet?

“Heeeey, no need to be so abrupt with me! I would like to think that I’ve matured from that guy that I used to be back in school! I mean, the years have most  _ definitely _ been kind to you, Miss Juvia.”

Juvia crossed her arms and practically huffed out a bitter laugh. Was he really trying to sweet talk her right now? Did he think that she was that  _ desperate _ ? What she felt for him was never love. She was just excited to be in her first relationship.

“Again, Juvia thanks you.”

His grin widened and it was clear to Juvia that he thought he still had a shot with her. She almost laughed in his face. Did he really think that she was still that same girl from before? Or that she  _ actually _ liked him? She had never given Gajeel the actual details as to why they had broken up, just telling him that they had done so. Gajeel was the reason why most guys never wanted to date Juvia back in school.

_ “However, a bet’s a bet and I intended to win. However, she is looking so damn good.” _

“So what are you doing here anyway? Did Gajeel drag you here or something?”

“Nope, I did.”

Both Juvia and Bora turned to see the third person who had joined them. Natsu’s face was set in a hard line and Bora raised an eyebrow. He didn’t seem like Juvia’s type, so he was hopeful that they were just friends.

“Oh nice. The name’s Bora. I’m Juvia’s ex.” Bora was smirking a little bit, as if to show Natsu that he was the sort of guy that Juvia’s into and therefore he would have no chance if he wanted to pursue something with her. Natsu didn’t even seem phased.

Bora then held out his hand for Natsu to shake and Natsu did so without hesitation, practically squeezing the life out of his hand. Bora wanted to crumple to the ground and scream ‘UNCLE,’ but he managed to hold everything together. How the hell was this guy so strong?!

Juvia held back her laugh, but she didn’t do a good job. She could practically see the testosterone flying in the air, but it looked like Natsu was winning. She then smiled simply at Natsu first. “Like Bora said, he’s Juvia’s ex. Bora, please meet Natsu, Juvia’s boyfriend.”

There was some sort of flash in Natsu’s eyes when she said that, his smirk now smug. “And unlike you, I  _ won’t _ be an ex.”

Natsu then snuck his arm around Juvia’s waist and pulled her into him. He had never done that before and he really hoped that Juvia was okay with it. Glancing down at her, he noticed that her cheeks were flaming red and he couldn’t help himself as he looked back up at Bora with a smirk on his lips. The said man’s face had dropped, and that was more than enough for Natsu to know that he had won here.

_ “Can’t believe this little shit thought he could try and get Juvia back after the way he treated her.” _

“Hi, can I take your order?”

Without even saying another word, Natsu turned both him and Juvia around so that they could face the counter. The moment he was met with food, his eyes lit up and unconsciously he squeezed Juvia’s waist. He was so oblivious to what he had just done to her and how she had reacted to it.

“Juves, what do you want?”

“Oh, um, just the same as Natsu. Juvia is fine with anything.”

He shrugged as he placed the order, wondering why she seemed spaced out, but he put it down to the fact that they had just seen her ex. He wondered what it would be like if they saw one of the girls that Natsu had slept with in public. Luckily, it’s not like any of them seemed obsessed with him, so he should be in the clear. 

When the food came, he unwrapped his arm from her waist and grabbed the food and the drinks. He moved his hands out of reach when Juvia tried to help him and he shook his head with a grin.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this. Let’s go find out seats. Nice to meet ya,  _ Bora. _ ”

That meant that it wasn’t. Natsu never wanted to see him again and Juvia almost felt sorry for Bora. Almost. Of course her vengeful side was extremely happy that Natsu had treated Bora like that. He had used her back in school and he deserved every bad thing in life.

They finally found their seats and Natsu started eating almost immediately. He then realised that Juvia might not know how long they were going to be here for. “Shit Juves, I never told you that this is pretty much an all day event.”

He watched as she smirked and rolled her eyes. “That’s okay, Juvia researched as much as she could about sumo and she knew that we would be here until the evening. Juvia does have some food snacks in her bag so that we don’t overfill ourselves during the day. Don’t worry, Juvia is happy to stay and watch sumo all day, if that’s what will make Natsu happy.”

Honestly, Natsu had never had the urge to kiss a girl the same way he wanted to kiss Juvia right now. She was perfect for him. She didn’t mind the length that they were going to stay here and watch the matches and she looked eager to learn more about his favourite sport. 

_ “She’s definitely an angel.” _

“I just know you’re gonna have so much fun! Sumo is way better than a lot of people think, you’re gonna love it. Then after, I guess you’ll lead me to your favourite place to get some food.”

He watched as she nodded her head. “And Juvia will pay.”

“Juvia will  _ not  _ pay.”

She frowned at him and he knew that it was because he had just mimicked her third person speech, but he couldn’t help himself. “Why is Natsu-san so against Juvia paying?! What is your problem, Juvia wants to treat Natsu too! If Natsu is trying to be a gentleman, stop it right now.”

Natsu almost blushed at the fact that Juvia was more than happy to treat her. It was weird receiving the same energy that he was putting into the friendship that they had because it had been a very long time since he had gotten such treatment from anyone. He had turned more into a giver. 

He laughed, biting down into his hotdog. “Feff, no neef!”

Juvia gave him a disgusted look and he knew immediately that he should have just shut up and ate his food. She was eating nachos and they fell into a comfortable silence, waiting for the arena to fill up while they ate. They both finished with slurping down their drink and Juvia had a plastic bag for their rubbish. He seemed impressed. That was the sort of thing his mum did, but he always forgot to do.

“You’re so prepared.”

“Juvia likes to be prepared. Oh, it looks like it’s about to start!”

Her eyes lit up in excitement and Natsu couldn’t help the smile that came up on his face. She really did look like a child in a sweet shop and it was so good to see someone get excited about the same thing that he gets excited about.

He then saw her look a little confused as she turned her head towards him. He looked at the ring quickly to see what was going on before he turned back to her. “You okay?”

“Yes, but what are they doing? Juvia just watched highlight matches, not full tournament days.”

“They’re doing the ring entering ceremony. It happens between each division and it’s supposed to be like a ritual. It’s said that in the rope around their waist, there’s some sort of deity in there and the rope weighs about 20kg. They then start one of two styles when entering the ring ceremony, as a way to show what kind of person they are. The shiranui style has both their arms open wide, showing that they love to attack and the unryu style has the left arm bent, right arm wide to show they’re good at both attack and defence.”

He watched as she soaked all the words that he was saying and he turned his head back to watch the yokozuna. He couldn’t feel the warmth in his heart grow as the girl he was slowly starting to fall for was enjoying something that he had enjoyed all his life. It was nice to know that there really is someone who would do anything for him.

“Natsu, thank you for bringing Juvia here!”

In all her excitement, she gave Natsu a peck on his cheek. Her lips felt soft as Natsu’s mind was instantly blown away. He wasn’t expecting it at all. He turned to face the woman who had made him speechless and she was focused on cheering. Natsu knew his cheeks were bright red as he also turned his attention towards the ring.

_ “I’m fucking glad I brought you too.” _

~x~

“Ta da! This is Juvia’s favourite restaurant on EARTH! Juvia is surprised there isn’t a chain in Magnolia. Juvia believes they would do very well.”

Natsu had never seen anything like it! It was a  _ buffet  _ that sold different cuisines! There were five different cuisines in one damn restaurant! He was surprised that he’s never even heard of the place.

“Fucking hell, you’ve been keeping  _ this  _ from me?!”

“Hey, Juvia didn’t keep anything away from anyone. It’s not Juvia’s fault that Natsu’s tastebuds never ventured past Magnolia and ready made meals.”

He threw her a glare, pretending to be annoyed. “You think you’re so funny.”

“Juvia doesn’t think, she  _ knows.  _ Oh, a waitress is coming over. Ah, it’s Sue-chan!”

The dark skinned woman came rushing over and the two girls hugged tightly. Natsu had never seen Juvia squeal at the sight of someone. You would have thought they hadn’t seen each other in about ten years with the way they were acting. 

“Via-chan!”

“Susu-chan! How long has it been?!”

“Like, five years?!”

_ “Okay, so maybe the reaction really is valid.” _

The two girls were happily chatting away as Sue led them to their table. It was when they got to the table that Sue realised she didn’t recognise the man that Juvia was with. She paused and glanced over at Juvia who looked away quickly. A sly look slipped onto Sue’s face.

“Oh? And who is this? I didn’t notice you there, handsome. Juvia has no manners, she didn’t even introduce us.”

Natsu laughed and Juvia wanted to die. There was no way that this was happening right now.

“The name’s Natsu, and I’m guessing you’re Sue.”

She snickered at his sarcasm. “In the flesh! Soooo, what’s going on between you two then?”

Although he knew it was a question for Juvia, Natsu shrugged and wondered how Juvia would want him to answer this. She pretty much already gave him free reign to say whatever the hell he wanted, but now they were in her town with people that she knew. Would she be embarrassed here, or could he still say whatever he wanted? He decided to play it safe.

“Anything that Juvia wants is going on between us. It’s all just vibes right now.”

Sue’s jaw dropped as they sat down. “Juvia? Vibing? It  _ has _ been so long! When Juvia loves, she loves hard! Oh, stop being so shy! Anyway, it’s a buffet, help yourselves to whatever. Juvia, me you and Meredy need a catch up session! I’m free tomorrow.”

Juvia laughed and nodded her head. “Of course! Juvia will text you our new address, just come whenever, we’ll be in!”

She bounced away to go and help in the kitchen and Juvia looked up at Natsu. The man shrugged his shoulders.

“I didn’t know if we should keep saying what we say to everyone else, or if you were gonna be embarrassed because this is your hometown.”

Juvia tilted her head in confusion and Natsu was reminded of how cute she was. He was also reminded of the kiss on the cheek that he had received earlier on in the day. She had him wrapped around her little finger and she didn’t even know it.

“Embarrassed? Why would Juvia be embarrassed? Juvia has told Natsu that whatever he says, Juvia is more than happy to go along with it. Stop doubting Juvia.”

Natsu couldn’t help the grin on his face. “So if I told people we’re married, you would roll with it?”

“Well yes, but people would know instantly that it’s a lie. We have no rings and Juvia has always voiced she wants a big Fairytale wedding. It wouldn’t work.”

He blinked at her before laughing in disbelief. “You’re crazy. I don’t know any girl in her right mind that would want to say she’s married to  _ me. _ That’s good to know there’s at least someone who’s willing to take one for the team.”

Juvia rolled her eyes. “Maybe Juvia should have said no. Natsu’s ego is now going to explode by the looks of things. Juvia will learn her lesson for next time. Now stop yapping and let’s go and find something to eat. Juvia is hungry from all that cheering and now her throat is sore too.”

Natsu didn’t need to be told twice. He was up in a shot, dragging Juvia along with him. She practically stumbled over her feet, not being at all ready for the way he pulled her with him. She just giggled and shook her head at him and he only released her the moment they got to the food.

He eyed the food with a hungry gaze in his eyes, almost as if he were a vulture, about to devour everything in sight. Juvia herself mirrored the look. It had been so long since she had last come here, it was almost as if the food had gotten better. With her move to Magnolia just under a year ago, she had been so busy with her new house and the job that she had also gotten. She barely had time to come back, unless she was visiting her family of course.

“What do you recommend, Juves?”

She looked over at him and his eyes were on her. He trusted her judgement in food as she was an amazing cook as well as having a similar palette to him. Both him and Gray were complete opposites when it came to food, so if Gray liked something, he knew he was going to hate it. Lucy’s varied, but she had an expensive taste, due to being a rich girl. 

“Well seeing as Natsu really enjoys hot food, Juvia will suggest going to that table over there.” She pointed at it and Natsu turned to see what she was talking about. His face lit up at the sight of the food that he might actually enjoy and before he could run off, Juvia spoke again.

“That food over there is Dragnof cuisine. They have a lot of chilli in their food. Then if you pair it up with food from that table there, it’s AMAZING. That’s the Caelum table. For desserts, Natsu will definitely enjoy food from Bosco. Very sweet.”

Okay, NOW he was raring to go. “Juves, I’ll be right back.”

And he was gone. Juvia watched him weave through a sea of people and grab up a plate. He started to stack up his food to high heaven and Juvia could only laugh at the sight of him. 

“So Juvia Lockser-Redfox is just ‘vibing’ with that hot piece of man over there?”

Juvia yelped in shock as she turned around to face her friend. Sue was standing there with a mischievous look on her face, as well as one that didn’t believe a single word that Natsu had said. She looked down at her hands.

“Well, um...Basically we’re work colleagues. We had mutual friends from uni despite not going to the same university. Now we’re really good friends.”

“And friends is all you see yourself as?”

Juvia looked back to make sure that Natsu still wasn’t anywhere nearby and she sighed a longing sigh. Sue could immediately tell that this was a very big thing that was weighing on her mind and Juvia turned back with a sort of sad smile.

“There’s a lot to explain, but Juvia will tell Susu-chan tomorrow when she comes over. Meredy-chan will be so excited to see you!”

Sue nodded and hugged Juvia. “Whatever it is, I hope it’s something that turns out alright in the end! Anyway, let me not stop ya from your ‘date.’ I need to get back to work, see ya!”

Sue bounced back into the kitchen to help them lug more food out to the tables. Juvia ran her hand through her hair before picking up a plate and loading her food on. Her mood dampened a little bit. It kind of sucked, knowing that she will never be Natsu’s type. Honestly, she never thought that he would be her type either. It was probably best to say that she doesn’t have a type then. 

She heaved a sigh as she piled her plate with food from different countries before heading back to her table. The whole situation was getting confusing now and she didn’t know if she could really play along with it anymore. Feelings were going to get hurt. Namely, hers.

_ “Juvia shouldn’t have been so accommodating with this lie. Maybe if Juvia had turned down his offer for the date, we wouldn’t be here. But then again, Juvia also wouldn’t be hanging out with him either. There’s so many pros and cons here. But his presence is really helping Juvia properly move on from Gray. No, Juvia must not think like that. Juvia isn’t using him as a rebound, Juvia genuinely likes him.” _

“Hmm, that looks so good Juves! You’re gonna have to point me in the direction of the table that you got all that good shit from. I’m so excited!”

Juvia was brought out of her thoughts when Natsu had finally joined her and was licking his lips at the food in front of him. She couldn’t help but snicker to herself as she thought of something.

_ “Get you someone who looks at you the same way Natsu looks at food.” _

“You good there?”

Juvia looked up when she saw Natsu pause with his fork in the air as he gave her a concerned look. She smiled and picked up her fork to start eating.

“Yes. Juvia is fine, just thinking about something that made her laugh.”

He seemed to watch her and she couldn’t help but like it when he looked at her like that. While it made her self conscious, it also made her feel a little excited that someone’s eyes were just on  _ her. _ It made her feel like someone knew she was there, instead of always being invisible. 

He then grinned at her before nodding and eating his own food again.

~x~

The drive back home had been a quiet one. The two of them were a little too tired from the amount they ate. Natsu even made comments about the amount that Juvia had eaten, saying he was happy that there was a girl who ate as much as him. Juvia had almost taken it the wrong way, thinking that he was calling her fat, but he seemed happy that they had yet another thing in common.

“Well, this is Juvia,” she managed to say the moment that Natsu had pulled up outside her house. She looked up at Natsu who was looking up at her house through her window. He didn’t really want the day to end, but he had definitely had fun. He was so used to going to sumo tournaments with his family, that he had forgotten how fun it was to go with someone completely different. He was reminded of all her reactions to each match and her excitement for being introduced to the sport. He smiled before nodding at Juvia.

“Yeah...”

She smiled at him the moment his eyes fell on her and he grinned back in response. “Thank you for the good day out. Juvia really enjoyed herself and she enjoyed getting to do something that Natsu enjoys.”

“No sweat. Thanks for joining me. I usually go with my family, but everyone was busy this weekend. And none of my other friends seem to enjoy it. You’re way better company though.”

Juvia laughed as she looked back down at her hands, fidgeting a little bit. His grin widened, knowing that he got her to act all cute and shy. “Juvia is glad. But Juvia will not tolerate Natsu paying for her whenever we go out for meals!”

She was a little annoyed that he never let her pay for anything and Natsu sat back, his arms up in defence. He had ended up paying AGAIN after they had eaten at the buffet and Juvia was far from impressed.

“Okay, OKAY! It’s not some sexist shit that I do, I promise! In fact, I USED to be happy if anyone wanted to pay for me! I guess it just stuck with me that Lucy hated paying my food bill whenever I made it so fucking long. I mean, you saw me today, I love to eat a lot! She always nagged me and so did Erza. I mean, those two are stinking rich, so I thought that if they were reluctant to pay my bill, why should I make anyone else? I also really wanted to get into Lucy’s good books and do something that she wanted a guy that she liked to do for her. I guess the habit just stuck.”

Juvia sighed and accepted the explanation. “Not all girls are the same, Natsu. There are girls who are quite happy to pay for the meals and Juvia is one of them. Juvia doesn’t want to look like a leech, she has enough money to pay for the both of us. Juvia may not be as rich as Lucy-chan and Erza-chan, but she does well for herself too. Please let Juvia pay whenever she asks to.”

She gave him a pleading look and he couldn’t help but feel a little bad. The way she made it sound, it was almost as if he had been insulting her the whole time by thinking that she couldn’t even pay for herself and that he was the one that had to do it. He also realised that he kept mentioning how rich a few of his friends are, due to them being children of business moguls and the fact that Juvia isn’t one of them must have been making her feel bad. That was the  _ last  _ thing he wanted to do.

“Oh shit Juves, I’m so sorry if I made you feel bad. I didn’t mean it, it’s just a habit.”

The girl smiled softly at him and nodded, accepting his apology almost immediately. He did NOT deserve this girl. “Juvia understands. Once again, Juvia thanks Natsu for the day and for even understanding the paying situation.”

He saw her hesitate and was about to ask if she was okay, but she leaned towards him in her seat and gave him the second peck on the cheek of the day. Natsu couldn’t help himself as his froze, his heart beating like an 808. Is he sure he isn’t dreaming?

“Natsu should get home safely, okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” he breathed out. Juvia gave him one last smile before she opened the door and got out of the car. Natsu stayed there and waited for her to fish around for her house keys. The moment she opened the door and waved, was the moment he waved back and left, his heart still beating fast from the kiss on the cheek. He was so aware of Juvia being close to him. Her perfume and her presence, they wrapped itself around all his five senses. He couldn’t help himself as a silly smile danced on his lips as he made his way back to his own home, not even realising that a pair of eyes had watched his interaction with Juvia from a little way down the road.

Juvia closed her house door and leaned on it, breathing hard and her eyes wide. She couldn’t believe that she just gave Natsu a peck on the cheek! She was also pretty sure that was actually the second one that she had given him today. She was sure she had given him one out of excitement earlier on in the day.

“You okay there?”

Juvia almost jumped as she looked up and saw her best friend stick her head out of the living room. She smiled and nodded, pushing herself off of the door as she removed her shoes.

“Juvia is fine...OH! Juvia saw Sue-chan! She works in the Galaxy restaurant! Juvia invited her over tomorrow for a little girl’s day as we bake.”

Meredy jumped up and down, clapping her hands. “I just KNOW this means that there’s some gossip to talk about! I would ask you about your date with Natsu, but I’ll leave that for tomorrow. KAMI the suspense is gonna kill me!”

Juvia blushed as she followed Meredy into the kitchen. “It was  _ not  _ a date, it was a hang out. We’re just friends. Juvia just happens to  _ like  _ this said friend, that’s all.”

Meredy smirked and shrugged her shoulders. “Well if you say so then. How about all four of us go out ice skating next week then? Like a little double date? You know you wanna.”

Meredy nudged Juvia as she was getting a drink out of the fridge and Juvia shrugged as if to act nonchalant. “That sounds good.”

“Maybe Lyon can get out of him what type of girl he likes! Help you out a little bit. It’s time you got yourself a boyfriend and Natsu seems like the best guy for you. I can’t WAIT for this to work out! He’ll be way better for you than Gray would have ever been!”

Lyon and Meredy were the only ones who never really thought that Gray was the right kind of guy for her and they did tell her to maybe think about her feelings a little more. Juvia is a stubborn person when it comes to something she wants as she  _ is  _ daddy’s little princess after all and thought that maybe if she was a bit more forceful with her love, Gray will finally see it her way. That was the  _ last _ thing that Gray was into and he just wasn’t into Juvia. No, he liked Natsu’s friend instead. Other than her obvious beauty, it was probably also because Lucy wasn’t pushy and stubborn like Juvia was.

But now it all worked out because she finally saw what everyone else saw. Gray really wasn’t the type of guy for her. She liked passion and over the top gestures of love. She liked fire and...Natsu was as close as she was going to get to that. She couldn’t help the smile that played on her lips as she took a sip of her water and reminisced about the day she just had. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that chapter was okay! I'm now up to date with my updates and I wish everyone a happy new year! I know this year has been crazy and I really do hope that next year turns out alright for everyone. The sumo behind this chapter was inspired by Hinomaru Zumo, the first ever sports manga I decided to read. By default, it holds an important place in my heart as my favourite sports manga (sorry Haikyu!) Hope you all have a great day and see you all again in 2021!
> 
> Lolita-chan


	8. Chapter 8

“I really think that Natsu and this girl are getting serious. He doesn’t really talk about  _ her _ , but more of the stuff that they do together. He’s always with her judging how he doesn’t really hang out with us anymore. I’m  _ dying  _ to meet her! Can you believe it? He won’t even give us a name!”

Lucy groaned as she sat back in her seat. Natsu had suggested that he and Juvia actually go to the cafeteria for a change of scenery. Well, he said that, but Juvia knew that Lucy and Gray were complaining that they hadn’t seen him in so long and they were wondering if he was mad at them for bugging him so much.

_ “Let’s go and hang out with them this one stupid lunch and then get them off my back. Plus it gives us a change of scenery.” _

Juvia had happily agreed. She found it funny how if Natsu didn’t show his face for a few days, they saw that as forever. It goes to show how close they are. It also made her realise that she probably wasn’t really much of a friend to them if they didn’t feel the same way about her. She hadn’t seen them for almost for a year and yet no one complained that they hadn’t seen her. 

_ “Juvia shouldn’t be too upset. Juvia and Gray drifted apart at the end of university after Juvia’s big stunt to ask him out. Thinking that Juvia could patch things up when we started working here was stupid and naive.” _

The two guys had gone to the toilet, leaving the two girls at the table. Juvia couldn’t help but giggle at Lucy’s complaint which made the blonde grin at her. She watched as she looked at her up and down before leaning towards her, almost as if she were going to whisper some sort of conspiracy to her.

“So how comes you’re still single, Juvia? Do  _ we  _ need to go out one Saturday and see if you can find a nice guy? You’re so nice and chill and you bake! I know damn well so many guys would love to eat you right up!”

_ “If they’re not Natsu, Juvia doesn’t want to know...Juvia has it baaaad.” _

She tried to shake her mind off of her thoughts of Natsu. Instead, she just politely shook her head with a small smile. “Ano, Juvia’s just not interesting enough. Or beautiful. Lucy-chan has Juvia beat in that department.”

Lucy leaned back, almost as if she were horrified. “Haaa?! Juvia, do you  _ own  _ a mirror?!”

Juvia nodded her head, innocently confused. “Well, of course. How else would Juvia get ready in the mornings?”

“You must not be looking at it then, because girl, you are  _ stunning _ ! That’s it, we need to get you down to a club and meet a few guys! It’s time to flaunt whatcha got! Even I can see that you’ve got a lot going on under that skirt suit! Also, I’ve never had a girls’ night out with you, I would love to see you with your hair down.”

Juvia blushed as she did nothing but look down at her lap. Lucy was throwing all these compliments at her and she didn’t know how much more she could handle. She was never good at taking them, having barely received them. Just as she was about to speak again, she was interrupted.

“What’s got you so fired up, Luce?”

The two girls looked up to see the guys coming back to the table. Gray’s hands were jammed into his pockets and Natsu’s arms were behind his head. Lucy pointed an accusatory finger at Juvia as the two guys sat down opposite them. Juvia could feel her face heat up the moment Natsu sat down. His eyes were now focused on her. She tried not to think about it as she looked at Lucy instead.

The blonde looked annoyed as she jabbed her thumb over in Juvia’s direction. “Juvia doesn’t think she’s hot! So I’ve decided that I’m going to take her out this Saturday and we’re going to hit the town and find her a nice guy that  _ does  _ appreciate her!”

Natsu’s fist caught Juvia’s attention. She saw it clench immediately and that sent her heart soaring. Did Natsu maybe have some sort of feelings for her that he didn’t want her to go out with any guys? No, she couldn’t overthink things, but that would be a nice thought though, wouldn’t it?

“Huh. I think Juvia’s pretty hot.”

Their three jaws dropped at the way Natsu casually said that and Juvia wanted the floor to open up and swallow her hole, because just how is she supposed to react to that?! He just dropped that he found her  _ hot _ . She was tempted to fan herself due to how hot he had just made her and she wanted to curse him for being so calm and casual as he propped up an elbow on the table and rest his chin on his open palm.

Lucy tutted from next to her. “Watch out Natsu, your girlfriend won’t be happy if she heard you say that about another girl, no matter how true that is.” Lucy chuckled after she got over her initial shock. It didn’t look like this was a topic that Gray wanted to indulge in, so he was busy eating his food.

“Nah, I’m pretty sure she’ll agree with me too. We both appreciate the same things. Don’t worry Juvia, she’ll  _ love  _ you.”

Natsu threw a secret wink at her and Juvia’s heart was ready to explode now. She didn’t know if Natsu was playing around because he thought that she was playing around too. It was getting too risky to start joking about things like this, because now her feelings were getting involved. She never thought that she would be in this situation. This seemed like something that only happened in dramas and her life was far from one of those.

His eyes shifted back to the woman next to him and Juvia finally released the breath that she didn’t know she was holding. “Either way, Juvia and I are going ice skating this weekend with Lyon and Meredy, so maybe another time.”

That seemed to capture Gray’s attention as he now sat up, his eyebrows were practically kissing his hairline. Juvia noticed a subtle smug smirk appear on Natsu’s lips, but it was gone as quickly as it came. It made her wonder if she had said it on purpose just to rile his feathers. 

_ “Well, DUH he said it on purpose, Juvia. Natsu loves to annoy Gray.” _

“First of all,  _ you’re  _ going ice skating?! You fucking hate it!”

Natsu shrugged his shoulders, almost as if he were bored. “Well I got invited because Juvia didn’t want to be a third wheel to the happy couple. I mentioned how I’m pretty shit at it and she told me to come along so that she could teach me.”

Gray didn’t look too happy that he was never asked, but he continued with his questioning. “Which leads me up to the second point.  _ You’re  _ hanging out willingly with  _ Lyon _ ?!”

Juvia remembered how Natsu mentioned that when Gray moved to Central Crocus, he had found himself hanging out with Lyon a lot more, but it looked like Gray didn’t realise that. How he hadn’t noticed that his own twin and his best friend had slowly become the new best of friends was beyond her. She would never want the person she’s dating to stop hanging out with his friends for her. Wasn’t that overkill?

“I hang out with you, right? You guys are literally the same. You’re the twins of annoyance.”

That definitely got Gray annoyed. “I’m nothing like him.”

Juvia almost verbally agreed with him. Lyon was a lot more of a joy to be around than Gray. He was almost the perfect mixture between Gray and Natsu to be honest. He had crazy ideas of his own, stuff that seemed Natsu approved, but he could also be as cold as his brother if he needed to be. But he was also very arrogant, but that was usually to piss Gray off, always reminding him that he was the older twin by a good hour.

Juvia did feel bad that she wasn’t into Lyon the same way that he had been into her, but at least it wasn’t awkward between them. They had still been really good friends and she was happy when Lyon and Meredy met each other. She felt like they were better suited for each other than her and Lyon would have ever been.

“Suuure. But yeah, we’re hanging out on Saturday.”

“But what about your date? Aren’t you going to ask her to be your girlfriend? Every time you talk about her, I can tell that you really like her. I’ve seen a different side of you since you’ve been dating her, although I would like to see more of you. I hope she doesn’t make you choose between hanging out with her or us.”

Juvia almost said something in order to defend herself, but Natsu’s face was enough to hold her back. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head, but there was something dark about that look. As if he didn’t like them ‘insulting’ Juvia. Even though they didn’t know this was about her.

“She would NEVER make me choose. I do really like hanging out with her. I get to do things that I want to do for once and she doesn’t complain that I like something like sumo.”

He gave a pointed look at Lucy who sweat dropped, but also felt guilty. It was true, she had never actually tried to go to a sumo match with him. Natsu continued talking.

“But I also like doing the things that she likes doing and ice skating is one of them. I don’t want to make a fool out of myself in front of her. That was another reason for me wanting to tag along. If I learn to skate with Juvia, I’ll be halfway decent with this girl.”

Juvia was trying her best not to react to what Natsu was saying. Whether he knew it or not, he was making her swoon next to him. She felt good that he was basically defending her without the other two knowing that they were all talking about her. He also found a more legit way to describe that the two of them were going to be hanging out this weekend.

“Well can we come? It’s been a while since we last went ice skating and I know Lucy here still needs to improve.”

Lucy blushed in embarrassment as she punched Gray’s arm and he laughed at her. He slung his arm over her shoulder and pulled her in closely. The other two watched as Gray whispered into his girlfriend’s ear. Probably some inappropriate things and Juvia heard Natsu huff next to her. It made her wonder if he was over Lucy or not. Was he jealous that Gray was the one who got to talk to Lucy like that?

She felt him nudge her and when she looked up, she saw him shake his box of cigarettes and he gestured with his head that they should probably get out of here. Juvia was more than grateful for the distraction. They scraped their chairs back and when she was about to let the other two know where they were going, Natsu shook his head and pulled her along. 

“When they get like that, they’re not focused on anyone or anything but themselves. There’s no point talking to them, let’s just go otherwise you’ll end up throwing up.”

Juvia laughed and nodded her head before following him out. He handed her a cigarette and when she put it in her mouth, Natsu had his lighter ready for her as she leaned forward, putting the end of it into the flames. It was their thing now. She liked having many things with Natsu.

“Does Natsu think we should invite them?”

Natsu shrugged. “Yeah, if we don’t wanna be suspicious I guess. I mean, we also have the option of telling everyone to go to one ice rink and then we go to the other one, am I right? Just so it can be us two. Good plan, right?”

Juvia giggled as she exhaled the smoke. Natsu may never know the weight his words hold. Just him saying that made it seem like he only wanted to hang out with her and that everyone else was a waste of his time. It made her feel like she was the only girl in the world in his eyes. She liked feeling like that, even if it might not be true.

“As much as that’s a good plan, it will also make us look even more suspicious, which is what we’re trying not to go for, right?”

He rolled his eyes as if he didn’t really care about that, but he still answered. “Right.”

Juvia smiled simply as she thought of something else to say. “Has Touka-chan been bothering Natsu this week?”

“Nah, she’s left me alone so far, though I still see her giving me bedroom eyes whenever your back is turned. She’s convinced that the two of us have something going on and that if I’m willing to play around with you, I should be willing to play around with her.”

Juvia didn’t know why it was so funny seeing Natsu get hassled by Touka. Maybe it was because she could finally see the humour in the way that people once viewed her. “Well, she’s not far wrong. But is Natsu still coming over tonight? Juvia has finally gotten the ingredients ready for the hottest meal she could ever make.”

Natsu smirked. “I’m still coming, don’t you even worry. But we also have a small problem that I’ve been trying to bring up all day.”

Juvia raised an eyebrow and for once, Natsu was the one who looked uncomfortable. Juvia stood a little closer to him and nudged his arm gently. They were friends, whatever he had to say shouldn’t embarrass him. Unless...there’s another lie involved. 

“Natsu can tell Juvia anything,” she said softly and he nodded.

“Um, on Saturday, when I dropped you off...my mum saw you kiss my cheek and she wants to meet you. I personally said that it’s too early and that we haven’t been dating for long, but she’s a really persistent woman. I couldn’t let her down, so I said yes.”

Juvia’s eyes almost popped out of her head at the fact that she was basically going to meet Natsu’s parents some time soon. She couldn’t help but turn away from him, embarrassed at the fact that he had brought up her kissing his cheek. She cupped her cheek with her free hand as she tried her best not to panic at the thought of his  _ mother  _ seeing them together!

“S-sorry! It’s all Juvia’s fault!”

Natsu shook his head, looking just as flustered as she was. “Hey, hey! No worries! I mean, if you wanna keep on doing it, I’m not gonna stop you...” He mumbled that last part, but Juvia heard him just fine. She turned and smiled shyly at him. He would never make her feel bad and that’s one thing she liked about him. 

“But Juvia is still sorry.”

Natsu shrugged, a lopsided grin on his face. “Shit happens I guess. I mean, I don’t know why she wants to meet you so early on anyway. She’s never met any other girl that I’ve been with.”

“Maybe that’s why. But Juvia thought that Natsu has had many girlfriends?”

Natsu’s hand froze as he was bringing up the cigarette to his mouth. “No I haven’t...er, they were just girls that I slept with to hide the pain of not being with Lucy. In turn, I was their rebound. I always seemed to pick girls who were fresh out of a relationship. Pathetic reason to sleep around, I know. Pretty immature of me actually.”

He laughed nervously and Juvia nodded. Juvia wasn’t stupid as to think that Natsu hadn’t slept with anyone, in fact it would be a shock if he hadn’t. He’s a very good looking guy and girls would be lining up to sleep with him. Touka was definitely trying her hardest. It didn’t hurt her, she understood that not everyone was like her. A virgin.

He seemed quick to speak up again though. “Well that was ages ago. Like I said, I haven’t slept with anyone in over a year...it was just a bad place for me. I’m not like that anymore.”

Juvia laughed a little at his attempt to not try and make himself look like a whore. She shrugged a little bit. Just because she still had her virginity intact didn’t mean that she was judgemental to those who didn’t. Gajeel slept around before he met Levy. “We all have needs, right? It’s fine.”

Natsu frowned. “But you don’t act on them like some dog. Not like me.”

“Natsu, seriously. It’s fine. Juvia isn’t judging you. It’s not like you’re trying to impress Juvia, right?”

Natsu didn’t even bother answering. He wanted to impress her. He wanted to show that he can be a serious guy who wants a serious relationship and not be that guy who jumps into bed with just anybody. 

_ “Fuck, do I actually like Juvia in  _ that  _ way? I’m so screwed.” _

“We are two different people and Juvia isn’t one to judge. Juvia even liked Gray while he was...with other girls before he started dating Lucy-chan. Natsu will find a girl who doesn’t care.”

Natsu frowned a little bit.  _ “Yeah, but if that girl ain’t you, I don’t want her.” _

“We should probably head back inside. Juvia still hasn’t finished eating. Oh, but when does Natsu’s family want to meet Juvia?”

Natsu sighed as they were heading back inside after flicking their cigarette butts into the bin.

“Sunday. Honestly, just be yourself. My mum will love you.”

The bluenette nodded, taking their place back in front of the couple who looked like they had only noticed that the two of them were gone. Natsu gave Juvia an ‘I told you so’ look and she tried not to burst out laughing. Gray was watching them with careful eyes. Juvia hoped they weren’t doing anything that would be deemed too suspicious to do as friends.

“The two of you seem to be getting along well.”

Natsu shrugged, trying to work out his angle. He’s always had some sort of girl best friend at his side. Lisanna, Erza and even Lucy. Adding Juvia onto the list wouldn’t hurt. Gray shouldn’t think too deeply into their friendship as he didn’t know that him and Lisanna had an arrangement and he  _ never  _ saw Erza in that way.

“Well yeah, we’ve been working on our project. Two weeks working together has made us close I guess.”

“Natsu is pretty funny. And a good worker. Juvia never expected that, she thought he would be lazy.” Juvia threw him a smirk and he rolled his eyes as Lucy nodded in agreement.

"With the right motivation, Natsu can be a really hard worker. Tell me Natsu, what's motivating you this time?"

She gave him a knowing look as if she could read his mind, but he gave off no clues. He wasn’t at all worried that she was suspecting something was happening with Juvia, because somehow, they wouldn’t think that Juvia is his type.

"A damn promotion. It's about time I got out of this position and started rising up the ranks."

Gray huffed. "Then that would mean we're all due one. You ain't the only one who wants a promotion right now."

"But  _ I'm  _ the one with a project right now, so we'll see. If I play my cards right this time around, I could get something."

That answer pacified them on why the two of them. He was  _ not  _ letting them know that the real reason as to why he was trying so hard was to make sure that he could impress Juvia. Not like it would have been any of their business anyway. Juvia and Natsu heard their name being called out and when they looked up, Bisca and Erza were heading towards their table.

"Yo, Erza. What's up?"

"A halfway meeting, that's what's up. We were supposed to have it today, but the managers have all been busy. We want to see where you guys are with your work. Nothing  _ too  _ formal, just show us what you've done."

The pair nodded and then Juvia asked, "when is the meeting?"

It was her line manager, Bisca who responded. "On Wednesday. Yes, we know it's short notice, but that's why it's an informal meeting. We want the formal meeting at the end when you've collected all the data and so on so forth."

Natsu groaned. Great, more work that he had to really try hard on. "Got it."

Bisca sniffed before frowning and looking at Juvia. "You started smoking again?" Her voice was flat, as if she were disappointed, but she would never really say anything. Natsu always knew Bisca as someone who wouldn’t get into your business, but she was there for the support and was more than happy to listen to you whenever you were ready to talk to someone. He had spoken to her a few times when they were teens when he didn’t want Erza or Lisanna worrying about him.

Juvia shook her head. "Juvia never really stopped. More of a social smoker now."

Bisca quickly glanced at Natsu before nodding and turning away to go and get some food. Natsu wasn't sure if anyone else saw it, but he noticed the smirk on her face and he just knew that something was floating in her head at the situation. Juvia had only started smoking at work again because of him and he  _ knew  _ that the green haired manager was thinking it had something to do with him. She wasn’t wrong though.

Erza nodded to her own workers and followed her friend. Juvia then sighed and stood up. "That's a little bit of extra work that we then need to get started on. Juvia's going to head on up. Natsu can stay for the rest of his lunch-"

Scraping his chair back, he shook his head. "Nah, I'm coming with. I ain't gonna leave you to do all the work by yourself. I left that side of me behind in high school."

Gray shot him a dirty look and Natsu just grinned. It was clear that that sentence had hit home like it was supposed to. They said their goodbyes to the couple and as they were about to leave, Lucy called out to Juvia.

"Oh Juvia! Let me grab your number! We should definitely hang out sometime!"

Juvia smiled and nodded as they pulled out their phones and traded numbers. They soon left and got into the lift. 

"I'm surprised you gave her your number. I didn't think you would ever be friends with your 'love rival'."

Juvia rolled her eyes and shoved him as he laughed. When she was someone who was easily jealous, she would always call Lucy her love rival instead of by her name and that was how she was dubbed as the crazy girl. She had since learned her lesson and after a few years of not seeing Lucy as her and Gray's friendship deteriorated, they were on good terms now.

"Yeah well, Juvia is no longer in love with Gray. Even if she was, we won't be rivals. Lucy won Gray's heart fairly, so Juvia wouldn't be able to call her a rival. Juvia is happy though, because she was able to see that Gray isn't the sort of guy that she wants."

The lift opened and they were on their floor. Touka was right there, surprised to see anyone in the lift, but the moment she saw Natsu, she gave him a sultry look.

"Hello handsome and...ugh. So Natsu, I was thinking that even when your project is finished with  _ her _ , don't ever be a stranger to our department. I will definitely-"

"You know what? I'm thinking of getting serious with my girl."

With that, Natsu grabbed Juvia’s wrist and they both left her standing there. Juvia glanced up at him, almost as if she could feel anger radiating off of him. That was very odd, he was never like this. "Is Natsu okay?"

He sighed in frustration, letting go of her and running his hand through his hair. "I hate when people don't listen the first time. I already told her I'm not interested and she keeps pushing it and it’s fucking me off."

Juvia bit her lip as she nodded. She knew that feeling all too well. Gray was always pissed off with her, trying her best to get through to him, to prove to him that they were made for each other. She never took the hint at first. Eventually she did. To see someone else go through that, she fully understood how annoying she once was. 

Natsu looked down at her with a weird look, wondering why she was silent. "You alright? Did I say something stupid?"

She shook her head as they entered her office. "No, no. Nothing stupid and nothing weird."

He caught her by her elbow and turned her around. Their bodies were close to one another. Natsu was searching her eyes for a clue, something that she was hiding away from him. She turned her eyes away from him, trying to not give away her feelings. That and she couldn’t look at him with him looking at her so hard.

"Juves," he said slowly. "What's up? I know I'm a bit stupid sometimes and I don't think when I talk. Did I say something wrong? Let me know."

Juvia bit her lip before she then sighed and looked back at him.

"Juvia sees herself in Touka-chan. Juvia tried her hardest to make Gray fall in love with Juvia. Gray always told Juvia no and Juvia never listened. Juvia was just reminded of that."

Natsu nodded as he moved his hands from her elbow and moved around her instead. "Sorry for reminding you about that. At least you wanted a relationship with that prick. Touka just wants to sleep with me." He didn’t really know how else to make her feel better. He felt like punching her for reminding her about a shitty time.

Juvia melted into Natsu's touch. She subtly breathed in deep. She loved the smell of his cologne and it was a scent that she had come to love over the last two weeks.

"It's fine Natsu. Juvia was just having a moment. Let's get started on this meeting, ne? Let's work hard so that Juvia can work up Natsu's appetite for tonight."

She pulled back and gave him a wink as she walked up to her disk. She may not have been doing it on purpose, but Natsu was watching the way her hips were moving in front of him. He really loved the pencil skirt she wore today. A simple pair of black heels that made her legs look deliciously long. She had a beautiful coke bottle shaped body and her arse looked so fucking-

"Natsu? Come on!"

"S-sure!"

* * *

"Natsu, come and taste this!"

They were both at Juvia's place as she was making some spicy food. She had found out that he loved to eat fish, particularly salmon. He had laughed and explained that he always argued with people who tried to tell him his hair was pink and he would claim it's salmon coloured. From there, salmon became his favourite fish.

He had jumped up from the bar stool that he was sitting on where he had been waiting for Juvia to call him. He was excited and Juvia could see it as he stood next to her, their arms brushing lightly brushing against each other. He did his best to ignore the warm feeling that washed over him. Juvia picked up a spoon and cut some of the salmon and blew on it as she raised it up to his mouth.

"Open up."

He raised an eyebrow with an amused smirk. "What, you’re gonna feed me?"

She gave him an amused look and nodded. "Yes Juvia is. Now, open up!"

He complied, his mouth opened wide for her. She placed the fish with a few vegetables and what seemed to be some red liquid.

His eyes almost popped out of his head as he felt his tongue light up on fire. He enjoyed it, but it genuinely was the hottest thing he had ever eaten.

"What the fuck?! That was  _ hot _ ! H-how did you do that?!"

Juvia laughed and pulled out a little pepper from a bag that looked really shrivelled up. He squinted at it as if trying to know whether her had seen it or not. Then he looked back at Juvia.

"What is that? A pepper? But it's so small."

Juvia nodded. "Yes it's a pepper, but specifically it's a scotch bonnet. This pepper is extremely hot. Sometimes you only need to use one, but depending on how much food Juvia is making, she might add up to three. Juvia only put in 2 of this."

Natsu's eyes were wide. "Wait, only TWO of that small peppers has got my mouth on fucking fire?! That's fucking crazy!"

He picked the pepper out of her hands and looked at the pepper, turning it around. Juvia grinned.

"Juvia's mum makes pepper soup. It's a winter dish that she makes us whenever we're sick. But because we love it so much, sometimes we just like to eat it. She puts maybe 6 in there?"

"SIX?! I knew you liked some hot food, but I didn’t know that someone’s taste buds could handle the level of heat that I like. Someone who isn’t my dad anyway. Fuck, you're amazing," he breathed out. He looked at her, finding himself falling deeper and deeper for this girl. He watched as she tried to laugh it off, but he found himself smiling at the fact that he could see her blushing. He liked being the reason why she blushes.

_ "Kami, she's so cute." _

"Juvia loves hot food. She didn't think it was anything cool though. But yes, Juvia loves hot food. Juvia made a basic hot sauce with the scotch bonnet and stuffed the salmon with it. Juvia hopes that Natsu likes it."

"Like it? I fucking love it. Oh man, did you make enough of this stuff for lunch tomorrow? I'm gonna eat the hell out of this. Can I?"

He gestured to the food and Juvia nodded as he started dishing out the food in excitement. Juvia was touched when she saw him pile up her plate first before he then filled his own. 

"You're so cool. Lucy can't cook for shit, she's got cooks for that."

Juvia laughed a little as she brought out a jug of water from the fridge. She glanced at the clock and wondered where Meredy was, seeing as she wasn't home yet. She was probably spending her time at Lyon's place. She decided to leave someone for her just in case she forgot to eat at Lyon’s, although Lyon would never let her forget to eat.

"That's what happens when someone is rich enough to have cooks. Does Natsu's family like hot food too?"

He swallowed his mouthful before speaking. "Hmm. My dad does. Zeref can handle it to a certain extent, but would rather not have it hot, same with my mum. Wendy hates hot food in general. Makes dinner time annoying. That's why she must be so happy that at least two of us have moved out."

Juvia smiled and Natsu asked her something. "But what Luce said today got me thinking. Why  _ are  _ you single?"

She looked up at him from beneath her eyelashes. That wasn’t a question she had been expecting at all and she nervously wrapped her hair around her finger. Is it that weird that she isn’t dating anyone? "Um, because no one really wants Juvia? Or maybe because she isn't actively looking for someone right now. Juvia hasn't really been interested in anyone since Gray. No one caught her eye."

She glanced up and quickly saw an emotion that looked like disappointment? Her heart sped up. Was he disappointed that she didn’t like him? Okay, so it wasn’t fair to say that she’s not interested in anyone right now when the guy she’s currently interested in is sitting in front of her, eating a meal that she cooked.

"What, no one at all?"

She needed to rectify what she had just said,  _ now. _ Because what if there is the slim chance that Natsu likes her back and she unconsciously pushes him away? She wasn’t risking that right now. She looked him directly in the eyes to at least convey some sort of emotion to add to her words.

"Well, maybe there  _ is  _ someone that Juvia would like to be with, but Juvia is trying her best to see where her feelings are  _ really _ going. Juvia doesn't want a repeat of what happened with Gray, so maybe Juvia will let the guy ask Juvia out first."

There was this look in her eyes that Natsu couldn't decipher. Was she talking about him? Or did she actually like someone else and was letting him know that they were going to have to wrap up this fake dating scenario pretty soon.

_ "Don't be so fucking stupid Natsu, she ain't into you. Why would she be if Luce wasn't? I knew this was gonna be shit. She’s too nice to say no, now she’s gone and realised she likes someone like I told her she would." _

"What about Natsu? Well, until recently Natsu was still in love with Lucy-chan, right?"

He snapped out of his thoughts quickly. "Right. But I mean, I've had loads of time to get over it so I guess I've had enough time to let my eyes wander to other girls. But yeah, I guess there is someone. I'm just worried I'm not her type though. I'm nothing like the guys she's liked in the past."

He watched as Juvia frowned and clasped her hand on the table. This was turning out to be kind of awkward, but he didn’t want things to be that way between them. They had been so solid until now.

"Well Juvia would think that girl is stupid if she turns Natsu down. Maybe you should ask her out, you might get a surprise and she'll take you up on it."

She slipped off of her seat and grabbed their plates and took them to the sink so that she could start washing them. She didn't even realise that Natsu's eyes were on her.

_ "I wish you really would." _

"But this Saturday should be fun, right? The six of us all going out and having fun on the ice. The only pair that won't be an actual couple will be us. Lucy-chan might try and convince Natsu to bring this girl out next time."

Natsu groaned as he stood up and decided to help her dry the plates. He also appreciated how she had swiftly moved on with the topic, making sure they weren’t lingering on some dangerous grounds. Thinking about his feelings in depth in front of her was risky. He might end up asking her out for real, when he didn’t even know how she felt about him.

"I sure fucking hope not. She won't let this go, considering they pretty much hid their relationship for six months. I dunno why she would want to rush  _ me  _ for things."

"Natsu is right, that does sound quite hypocritical. Natsu is doing a good job deflecting all of her questions though."

He shrugged carelessly, trying not to dwell on this shit that had been his life for the last year and a bit. It was a secret that he wasn’t ready to let anyone know about yet and as much as he liked Juvia, he didn’t want to make her worried or anything. It was something that he had learnt to deal with by himself.

"I'm used to it, I guess. I just joke about stuff and make it easy to talk about something else. Start asking questions about her and job done."

Juvia turned to look up at it and Natsu almost flinched at the serious look that she was giving him. "What?"

"Natsu better not do that with Juvia. Juvia will be here for Natsu whenever he needs her to be. Don't hide, don't deflect and don't joke about something that’s serious to you. Juvia isn't going to fall for it. So promise Juvia."

He grinned and shook his head. "Sure. I promise ya."

That seemed to satisfy her as she gave him a plate to dry. "But to answer Natsu's question, yes. Juvia has made more food, so let's get it all into containers for tomorrow. Oh, with some rice!"

Natsu watched as she rushed around her cozy kitchen and just smiled as he stood there, drinking her in. He loved the way her tattoos littered her arms, all in bright colours. When she had removed her tights earlier, she had come back downstairs and he noticed a bright blue tattoo on her left, creamy thigh. Not only did her legs look delicious, it matched the red tattoo that he had on his left shoulder. It was from the famous dragon guild in the dragon chronicles. They had spoken about it in more depth, and Natsu couldn’t help but smirk at the blush she wore on her face when she had come to the realisation that they had matching tattoos.

He couldn't help himself. He loved being around her, even more than Lucy. They were as different as night as day. While most people would have said that Lucy was the sun and that Juvia was the moon, he felt that she was a combination of both.

She may seem quiet and reserved at the surface, but she was bright once you got to know her. That was all it took. She was all laughs and smiles and willing to accommodate someone else with their own hobbies. She was there to listen to you and also be able to speak her mind freely about anything in her life. She was just amazing for that. He would never let anyone take advantage of that. He was going to make sure that he was there for her whenever she needed someone to talk to and to laugh with.

It was in that moment that Natsu knew, he was totally and utterly screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya everyone! I hope everyone is good and happy new year! I know we're off to a shaky start, especially to any of my readers in the US, but I hope everyone has some sort of good year. This is my first update of the year and I hope that I have many more this year! I hope you guys liked this chapter and of course, I'll see you all next Thursday ^^


	9. Chapter 9

This was going to be their third weekend together. Natsu didn't realise how fun it was to hang out with someone that you actually liked and made it fun. Well, he did. When he used to like Lucy, he used to love hanging out with her. He was happy enough to do whatever it was that  _ she  _ wanted to do, and that was probably why it was way better hanging out with Juvia. They both got to do the things they liked, together. He felt like he was getting to know her more and more with each passing day.

Right now, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her as both her and Meredy were listening to what Lucy was saying. He didn't realise he was staring until Lyon hit his arm to grab his hired skates. He gave him a sheepish smile and grabbed them before heading over to a bench. 

The invite had ended up being extended to both Erza and Jellal and Gray was talking to them. That just left Lyon with Natsu and Natsu didn't like that. Not because he didn't like Lyon, but more because of the way he was looking at him. He didn't like that look one bit. It was mostly out of habit that he still called Gray his best friend, but it was most probably Lyon now. They knew a lot about each other and right now, that was pissing Natsu off.

"What?" He practically growled out at him. Lyon gestured with his head over at the girls with an annoying smirk.

"Oh nothing. I'm just trying to see which girl it is that you like over there. I mean, it couldn't be Meredy because she's  _ my  _ girl, so I narrowed it down to two people. Now, I know you like Lucy-"

"How the fuck did you know that?!"

"-and I also know that you've been bitter towards Gray for 'stealing' her away from you.  _ However _ , I also know that you've been trying your best to get over her soooo, the only other person-"

"Lyon, I fucking swear-"

"-that it can be, is Juvia. So you've got your eyes on Juvia over there, huh? Good for you, I mean I don't blame you. I did at some point too, but she was so far up Gray's arse I just let her go. Good job I did, Meredy was the girl for me."

Natsu glared at him and Lyon laughed. "What? You're mad that you're disgustingly obvious? Look, Meredy and I could tell all those times that we all hung that you were practically in love with Lucy. How Gray never saw it...well we all know he's a fucking idiot."

"Amen." That was the only thing that Natsu was happy to agree on with Lyon right now.

"So what, you never told her or anything?"

Natsu sighed. "I always believed that actions speak louder than words. I've never really told anyone that I like them, so I don't really know how to deal with it. That and Luce was practically used to saying that I don't care about girls more than I care about food. Shit hurts. But I did stuff for her and she just thought I was being friendly."

He shrugged and Lyon shook his head. “Oh, she’s one of those clueless people who can see when someone likes someone else, but not when someone likes her? I know a few people like that. So Juvia, huh?”

Natsu nodded again, his eyes on the said woman. What was the point denying it? Lyon isn't stupid and he hit the nail on the head. It also felt good telling someone else and not having to keep the secret to himself. 

"I really like her, dude. She's fucking perfect and she doesn't even know it. I just know I'm not her type. Me and Gray are nothing alike. I'm definitely not  _ Bora. _ "

Lyon punched his arm as if disappointed that he would bring up that name. "Oi, Bora definitely doesn't fucking count. He's a bastard and you're just...a prick."

Natsu rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Thanks, makes me feel so much better. But how did you and Meredy start dating? How did you ask her out?"

"I just did."

Natsu growled. Fucking figures. Lyon was never one to be shy about anything. "But you were never looking for love. You even swore off of it."

"That's because Sherry was so damn creepy! She threatened every girl that tried to get close to me, so I said it as a way to get her off of me! I didn’t want to put any girl in danger just because of some other girl.”

Natsu’s eyebrow twitched when he remembered Sherry. Lyon hadn’t gone to the same school as him and the others. He was actually a lot smarter than Gray and went to the local Grammar School called Lamia High. He had met Sherry a few times and let’s just say that he never wanted to meet her again.

“Judging by the look on your face, I’ll say you remember her. But yeah, the moment she got a boyfriend was the moment I could finally breathe around girls. By that point, I was already going to uni, so I thought I’ll just meet someone there. I met Juvia, she met Gray and eventually I met Meredy through Juvia. After we all hung out a few times, I realised I liked Meredy and just asked her out. Just the two of us.”

Natsu stared at Lyon like he had just met a celebrity. “You asked her out, just like that? How did you feel?”

“Not gonna lie, I was nervous. I had the same fears as you. What if I’m not her type? What if she’s also into Gray like Juvia was? All these insecurities and questions float through your head and I get that. But at the end of the day, we’ll just never know and I guess my curiosity to see what her answer would be. All turned out for good anyway.”

Natsu nodded. “Yeah I guess it did. So what, did you do it in a special way? Did you take her somewhere cool or what? And how did you get her to go with you? After all, she must have been used to going out as a whole group, right? How did you manage to get her to go alone?”

“I just asked her. It’s not like that would be weird for you and Juvia anyway, you guys already do stuff without everyone else. In fact, this is the first time you’re doing anything with all of us around. So my advice to you is that you should take Juvia somewhere special. She really loves Christmas and everything involving it. Maybe if you take her to the Fantasia parade, you can ask her out then.”

Natsu’s eyes widened. They had the Fantasia Parade coming up and it conveniently happened at the end of their project. 

“You’re smart, I like that idea.”

“What idea?”

They both jumped as Gray and Jellal came up behind them. Lyon didn’t even skip a beat and without looking at his brother, he replied with, “going to a buffet when we’re finished. Saves money and he gets to eat like a pig.”

“Hey!”

Even though he sounded angry that he was called a pig, he was more than grateful for his quick thinking. Natsu wasn’t a very good liar and he was very surprised that he had even come this far with his little lie with Juvia. Maybe it was because she made it seem believable with him.

“Sounds like Natsu. But I’m definitely game. Hey! We should race like old times! Whaddya say?”

“You’re fucking on.”

They both ran in their skates and Meredy and Lucy looked up and face palmed when they saw their respective boyfriends run away from them like little children. Jellal snickered with Natsu as he walked back over to Erza.

“Wait, but Gray is supposed to help me! That idiot!”

“Don’t worry, I can help you if you want. My boyfriend just ran off with yours, so we can run off together, ne?”

“Sounds good to me. Juvia, are you okay to handle Natsu? I know that he might be a little difficult to handle-”

“Juvia will be just fine. Don’t worry.”

She didn’t want to hear her say anything bad about him and Natsu couldn’t help but grin from where he was sitting. He stood up when he saw Juvia making her way to him and she smiled at him before they set out to the rink. Lyon and Gray were already speeding along and while Natsu used to think that was cool, he couldn’t help but remember the way Juvia skated with such speed and grace. She definitely wasn’t aggressive looking as they were.

“I’m pretty sure you can go faster than them.”

They were on the ice and surprisingly, Natsu wasn’t as shaky as before. He had gotten over his initial fear of the ice and used the technique that Juvia taught him. She beamed at him.

“First of all, Natsu is doing an amazing job for your third time! Basically second because no one taught you that first time. Secondly, Juvia doubts that. They look like they’re going at the speed of sound!”

It was almost like a gust of wind blew past them as Lyon and Gray sped past them yet again. Juvia huffed and rolled her eyes as she gave Natsu her hand. He looked down at it before looking at their environment.

“You sure? I mean, we’re in front of all of our friends.”

“Meredy and Lyon already know about our situation and Juvia also doesn’t really care. To them, Juvia just looks like she’s helping Natsu, right? Then it’s fine! This is what Lucy and Gray looked like all those years ago.”

“Yeah, and look where they are. They’re a couple now. You tryna tell me something Juves?” He was only joking around, but he also wanted to find out how she felt. Maybe if she could give him some clues, that would be perfect.

Her face went bright red and she looked away. “W-well it’s not like Juvia would complain or anything. But  _ we  _ know what we’re doing, right?”

“Yeah. Right.”

He didn’t want it to be awkward between then, but he didn’t know what to do. Luckily, Juvia did. She swung herself in front of him, holding both of his hands as she smiled at him. 

“Come on, let’s start working on your speed so that soon enough, you can be like those two.”

Natsu chuckled and shook his head. “They’ve practically been skating from the womb. I don’t think I’ll ever catch up.”

“Not with that attitude. So tell Juvia. How did Natsu not get into ice skating, but Wendy did?”

“Pretty sure it was one of those barbie movies. She saw barbie figure skating and that was it. She was absolutely hooked like an addict on crack. She begged and pleaded to start having lessons and being a daddy’s little princess, my dad enrolled her into lessons. She stuck at it and here she is. An amateur figure skater.”

“That’s amazing.”

Natsu nodded, feeling nothing but pride for his younger sister. Then he beamed at Juvia. “You should come to one of her competitions one day. I’m sure she’ll love to have more support.”

Juvia nodded, unable to keep the grin off her face and Natsu found it contagious as he started grinning back at her. 

“Juvia would love to come. Just give her a time and date and she’ll be there.”

Natsu wasn’t sure if it was the conversation that he had with Lyon that had him feeling like this, but he felt like she was talking about something completely different. Almost as if she were inviting him to ask her out, but he wasn’t too sure. He didn’t want to jump the gun and be wrong about it.

“Great. I’ll let her know. Now, as much as I like us skating like this, shouldn’t I try and skate without you?”

Juvia shrugged and let go of his hands without any warning. The moment she did, he stumbled a little bit as if he had lost some confidence, but he managed to catch himself again. He glared at her as she snickered at him and then twisted round so that she was now skating next to him. As they were skating along, they couldn’t help but hear a gasp.

“Natsu! What the hell, when did you get so good?!”

They turned their heads to see Lucy clutching onto Meredy for dear life and Meredy herself didn’t look like she was having much luck trying to get her off. Natsu practically howled out in laughter at the sight of his friend clinging on like that and Lucy growled at him. If she could skate by herself, she would have come over to hit him.

“Well, Juvia’s just that much of a good teacher. That and I’m a quick learner. Clearly I can’t say that much about you. Thought Gray woulda been dragging you here with him every weekend?”

Lucy scowled at him, not at all happy that he was better than her. Especially when her boyfriend should have made her better. “Remember we live in Central Crocus. There isn’t really an ice rink near us, it’s on the West side of town. That and he seemed to drop skating a little bit when we got together. I don’t know, I never really asked him why he did that.”

Natsu raised an eyebrow and even Juvia looked up at him confused. The both of them knew how much he loved ice hockey and he used to play so much of it in his spare time. Did he think he had to stop doing all the things he loved for Lucy?

“Anyway, can I skate with Juvia? I know Meredy here is trying to hide the fact that I’m hurting her as I’m squeezing the life out of her arm, but maybe I can skate with Juvia?”

Juvia didn’t really mind and she nodded with a smile. “Sure.” 

Natsu whined. He didn’t want his partner to let him go, but he also hadn’t spoken to Meredy in a while, so he was sure that things were going to get awkward between them fast. He could also get more advice from her seeing as her boyfriend already knew how he felt for Juvia. Maybe she could tell him if Juvia felt the same way.

Lucy held her hand out for Juvia to grab and Juvia pulled her gently. “Okay, let’s do what Juvia did with Natsu and that was get him to hold onto the side and hold onto Juvia with the other hand. Now we push, push, glide. Yep, just like that!”

Juvia’s voice was soothing as Lucy felt herself relax and focus on her feet. She was silent for a while trying to get the hang of it and when she did, she felt confident to talk at the same time.

“So Juvia. You seem to have gotten really close with Natsu lately because of the project that you guys are doing. I was wondering if maybe he had told you anything about this girl he’s seeing? You don’t have to tell me her name or anything, just like if they’re serious or what?”

Juvia giggled and shrugged. “Juvia doesn’t really ask those kinds of questions. It’s not really her place to do so. Why is Lucy-chan so adamant to find out about this girl? Natsu said that he’ll tell you about her when he’s ready.”

Lucy yelped a little bit as she tripped, but Juvia’s hand was firm as she held her tightly without letting her tumble to the ice. She was grateful as she kept repeating her thanks and Juvia shook her head with a smile. She was used to picking up Rogue from when they were younger and he wanted to learn how to skate with her. 

Lucy sighed before she answered. “It’s because I knew that Natsu had a huge crush on me. It was probably to the point of love, but I’m not too sure. I just wasn’t into him. I didn’t see him in that way, I saw him as my brother. However, I didn’t want to embarrass him and tell him it’s never going to happen if he wasn’t going to come out and ask me out himself. Then the day that I met you and Gray, I met someone I liked and it seemed like Gray liked me back too. I also knew that you liked Gray too and I thought you guys were dating, but he confirmed you weren’t...I know it’s taken me so long to apologise but...I’m sorry.”

Juvia was stunned into silence before she finally found her voice again. “Ah, no. It’s fine. Sorry for what? Sorry that Lucy-chan had feelings for Gray and that they’re reciprocated? Juvia’s not mad. She was hurt and upset at the time because she’s so used to never being liked, but it was just Juvia’s routine.”

“Juvia.” Lucy’s voice broke when she heard that. She hadn’t meant to make the blue haired girl feel bad at all.

“That came out wrong! Trust Juvia when she says she’s okay! Juvia had gotten out of a pretty rough break up in high school and was just looking for anyone who gave her attention. As the first guy to talk to Juvia, Gray was basically just a replacement for the pain that Juvia felt. Juvia sees now that we wouldn’t have been compatible and for that, Juvia is happy that she’s not the one with Gray.”

Lucy gave her a look of relief that clearly showed she was happy that there was no bad blood between them. “Juvia, I would hug you right now, but I need to cling onto the side here.”

They both laughed out loud together. When they quietened down, Lucy still had a smile on her face. 

“But I guess the next reason why I want to know who this girl is is so that I can thank her. I haven’t seen Natsu this happy before, even when I wasn’t dating Gray. He’s really applying himself in his work, he’s serious about a promotion and he’s just in general doing really well. I remember when Ultear thanked me for basically making Gray a better man and I didn’t understand it at the time. Now I do when I see what Natsu’s going through. He may not act like it, but he’s got so much love to give and that girl deserves the world. She’s one hell of a lucky girl and I hope she doesn’t break his heart.”

_ “Juvia would NEVER do that...Because Juvia isn’t even dating hum, duh.”  _ She couldn’t believe that that thought had just popped up in her head!

Instead, she just hummed in agreement with that. She looked around until she could see him and she found him laughing along with Meredy. Just the sight of him smiling made her smile too and her heart constricted in her chest. She really had come to like Natsu. This was also very different from when she used to like Gray. If she had seen another woman make Gray laugh, she would be so jealous. Right now, the sight of Natsu smiling made her happy. Even if she wasn’t the reason behind his smile right now.

_ “This is really bad, Juvia really does like him!” _

“If Natsu wasn’t already dating this girl, I would have even set you guys up! But you know, he’s doing so well with her. And that’s why we need to go out one weekend. Ooh, or better yet, I set you up on a blind date! Tell me your type of guy and I’ll see what I can do.”

Juvia gave her a plain look. “Juvia is not going out with Loke.”

Lucy blushed as she started to stutter. “W-what makes you think I was going to suggest him?!”

Juvia smiled knowingly and winked. “Because Juvia has heard Lucy-chan trying to tell all the single girls that he’s changed. Personally, Juvia thinks he should stop thinking he doesn’t deserve Aries-chan and he should ask her out.”

“That’s what I’VE been telling him! Aries has been by his side through his hoe phase and she never once stopped loving him! Then suddenly when he realises her feelings for him, he stops being a playboy to better himself, but he  _ still  _ won’t admit that he likes her to go out with her! Kami, their life is such a drama right now.”

Just as Juvia was about to respond, Gray suddenly did the most dramatic brake on the ice and Lucy squealed before glaring at him. Even Juvia wasn’t impressed as he literally sent a whole spray of ice shavings towards them.

“You scared me!”

He gave her a sheepish grin. “Sorry babe, that was the last thing I wanted to do. Here Juvia, I’ll take her off your hands now. Let me teach my girl how to skate.”

Juvia nodded as Lucy reached out for Gray. She seemed a lot more steady on her feet now and Juvia smiled. She was glad that she could finally take advantage of not having to help anyone right now. Natsu was with Lyon, Meredy and Erza and when she looked to see who was next to her, she saw her cousin.

“Yo, Juvia.”

She beamed up at him as she hugged him, making Gray and Lucy confused. 

“You guys know each other?”

Jellal gave Gray a strange look, as did Juvia herself. It was no secret that Jellal was her cousin, so why was he asking? “Yeah, she’s my cousin.”

Their jaws practically dropped and Juvia looked confused, especially at Gray’s reaction. This wasn’t the first time they were all out together. Did Gray not actually pay attention when she spoke about him? “Juvia thought you guys knew?”

“NO! Well, it’s not like Jellal works at the same company as us for me to even know that! Talk about a small world I guess. So Juvia, that means you live near here, right?”

“Yes. Juvia moved to Magnolia in the last year, but Juvia was originally from Oaktown, the next town over.” Okay, so now she knew that she had given away a little bit of the information that they had used with Natsu’s ‘girlfriend’, but she was also certain that they would never make the link themselves. 

Gray whistled. “You’re an oak girl? Lemme guess, you also went to Phantom?”

“Yup!”

Gray looked mind blown at the information. “How the fuck did I not know  _ any  _ of this back in uni?”

_ “Because Gray never really paid attention to Juvia. Juvia was willing to learn everything about Gray. His past, his friends, his families and his ambitions. Juvia knew it all. But Gray never got to even know Juvia’s birthday. Huh. Looking back at it, Juvia should have  _ never  _ fallen for such a guy.” _

Instead of saying that out loud, she shrugged her shoulders before turning her attention back to her cousin who was smirking at her. She didn’t like the look of that at all. He had something planned. 

“So I heard from the grape vine that you  _ like  _ someone.”

Juvia went so red that if she started whistling like a pressure cooker, nobody would have been surprised. She looked over at the couple and they seemed to be interested in who she liked, especially Gray. He probably wanted to know if it was still him or someone else.

“Juvia’s not denying or confirming that.”

“Oh really? Fine then, how about a backwards race? Five laps around the ice. I win, you tell me who it is and if you win...”

“Jellal-kun has to get that face tattoo that Gajeel-kun has been wanting to give you for quite some time now.”

Jellal practically paled at the thought of his cousin wanting to tattoo his face. He didn’t know why it had to be  _ him  _ per se, but once Gajeel had a creative streak and idea within him, he wanted to act upon it. For that simple reason, Jellal had been avoiding his cousin for quite some time now.

“It’s not even worth it!”

“Aww, is Jellal-kun scared he’ll lose?”

“I’d rather die than get that damn tattoo on my face. Fine, I’ll leave you alone for now, but let’s have that race.”

“Jella-kun is on.”

Lucy cheered from next to them as she was clutching at her boyfriend. “I want to watch this! It might be best if I stop skating for now. Besides, my feet are hurting. Gray, mind if we have a break before we start again?”

“Sure thing. I wanna watch this too. I’ll call it.” He watched as they both got into position. “Three, two, one, go!”

They were both off in a shot despite skating backwards. Lucy gasped in awe as she watched them skate. It was clear that Juvia had practically lived on the ice and Jellal was more than lucky that he had decided to not go through with their little bet, otherwise he was going to have to walk around town with a brand new tattoo on his face. 

Juvia had easily breezed the five laps, coming to her own dramatic stop right back next to Lucy and Gray and Jellal soon caught up, panting as he did so.

“You bitch, you still skate.”

“Why would Jella-kun think that Juvia stopped?”

He didn’t answer as he tried to get his breath back and his girlfriend came skating up as she laughed. “Wow, Juvia really handed you your ass on a silver platter, Jellal.”

Jellal groaned as he held his head, the five of them deciding to skate along.

“Thanks for the reminder babe. No really, I needed it since I forgot that she won.”

Erza smirked at him and Juvia grinned as she shook her head. She was going to skate off now seeing as she was now the fifth wheel out of them all. She went ahead of them, slipping on the ice. She could practically do this with her eyes closed. 

She just needed to clear her head for a moment and actually come to terms that she was starting to develop romantic feelings for Natsu. But how was she going to go about it? She had seen that shouting out her feelings at the top of her lungs wasn’t really the way to go, seeing as it didn’t work with Gray. But the two of them were different. Natsu felt no shame or embarrassment in a lot of things, so maybe he wouldn’t mind as much.

But still, she was scared. Maybe she should drop some hints and see if he takes it. The ball was totally in his court and if he liked her back the way that she did, then he would have to be the one to make the call and ask her out.

“Hey Juves, what’s got you thinking so hard?”

She looked up to see Natsu trying to catch up with her. She slowed down and he gave her a grateful smile.

“Nothing interesting. Why, what’s up?”

“The others have been trying to call you that we’re all going for dinner. Turns out we’re going back to your favourite buffet place in Oaktown.”

Juvia nodded as she looked around, and didn’t see any of their friends. She frowned before looking back at Natsu.

“Where is everyone?”

He shrugged. “They were kinda tired of trying to wave you down, so they all left. I’m your ride, so I thought I'd wait it out until you were ready to go. You good?” They came off of the ice and Juvia nodded her head, no longer looking distracted.

“Yeah. Yes, Juvia is fine. Thank you for waiting and sorry for keeping you.”

“Nah, I don’t mind. I’m not in a rush to get there. I am excited to eat there again though.”

“So is Juvia! But Juvia also wants to go back to that place that Natsu took her the first day. Juvia really liked it there, and Natsu is so friendly with everyone. It was cute.”

Natsu pretended to puff up his chest and deepen his voice. “Me, cute? Nah, I think I need to overload you with some toxic masculinity.”

He bumped into her and she laughed as she tried to push him away, but he was unrelenting. “Yes cute. Natsu can never be toxic. Not to Juvia.”

He looked down at her as they went to go and remove their skates and he grinned at her. “That’s good to know. Because right now, only your opinion matters to me,” he said softly. 

Juvia's eyes widened as she then turned her head, wrapping her hair around her finger as her heartbeat went crazy. She had never had anyone ever say something as nice as that to her and it sent her heart into a frenzy that she knew Gray wouldn’t be able to do. 

She watched as Natsu went to return his skates as she couldn’t help but look at  _ him. _ Jet black jeans that threatened to hang low on his hips. Juvia was reminded of his chest and his V line from the time where he was getting his chest and arm tattoo. She wanted to see that again. Maybe if she went to the gym while he was there...

_ “Juvia should stop by the gym instead of going swimming one morning.” _

He finally got his shoes back and he put his feet into them, slamming the shoes onto his feet. He looked up to see Juvia already looked at him and he held out his hand to her and he watched as her face lit up and she practically ran over to him, grabbing his hand. His heart literally  _ fluttered _ in his chest. He had never met anyone who was that happy to to be in his presence, save for his family.

Maybe he actually had a chance? Maybe Juvia liked him the way he liked her? The signs were there, he wasn’t going to miss them. He was going to take Lyon’s advice and he was going to ask her out. His confidence had shot up ten fold now. He was going to make this fake relationship of theirs real.

He squeezed her hand subconsciously, and his grin widened when he felt her squeeze back. This was a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that chapter was good enough for everyone! Thank you all so much for reading it so far, the kudos and the comments really let me know that I'm doing something right! See you all in the next one!


	10. Chapter 10

Juvia was pacing up and down in the living room and Meredy and Lyon were both snacking on some crisps as they watched her do so. They found it amusing, seeing her all like this. She could sense them looking at her and she sent them both a very cold look.

“Stop grinning like that. The both of you look like creeps.”

That made them grin even wider. She wasn’t even looking at them, but she could  _ feel  _ them basking in her nervousness. They were so mean. Meredy then said three simple words that set Juvia off.

“Just calm down.”

“JuSt CaLm DoWn. Was Meredy-chan calm when she went to her first dinner at the Fullbuster’s?! Yeah, Juvia didn’t think so!”

Lyon snickered when Juvia mimicked Meredy and the girl glowed red when she remembered that she practically wet herself at the dinner table. It wasn't really something she wanted to be reminded of.

Lyon snickered as he had to step in and mediate. “Okay, okay, no need to get at each other’s necks. Juvia, stop pacing up and down, you’re gonna wear down your carpet and babe, have some sympathy for her. She’s going to her fake boyfriend’s house to meet his parents who don’t know that it’s a fake relationship. All because she couldn’t keep her lips to herself.”

He smirked as he said that and Juvia stared at him horrified. She grabbed a cushion and came to attack him. “LYON-KUN, THAT’S NOT EVEN FUNNY!”

_ Ding dong. _

The three of them paused as they stared at the door and Meredy pushed Juvia out of the way, running down the hallway like a little child, ready to answer the door. Juvia could feel her very soul leaving her body as she didn’t want to move. She glared at Lyon the moment he shoved her, but he ignored it and pointed at her to get out. She nodded and grabbed her jacket and made her way to the door.

“Oh, here she is! Have her back between tonight and tomorrow night. Maybe you guys can get together and tonight and come back after work tomor-”

“SEE YOU GUYS LATER, BYE!”

Juvia sprinted past Meredy and slammed the door in face, not even wanting her to say anything more that would embarrass the hell out of her. She huffed before turning to face Natsu and they both paused as they looked at one another. Juvia didn’t know exactly how casual or smart this dinner had to be, but she wore a navy blue turtleneck, a black miniskirt with a pair of tights on her legs and black boots on her feet. She had even gotten Meredy to french plait her hair.

“Wow, you look really good.”

She felt her face warm up. “Oh, thank you! Natsu doesn’t look too bad himself.”

_ “Or smell bad.” _

He looked amazing in his crisp white polo shirt and light brown chinos. He still had that scent on him that made it seem like he had just gotten out of the shower. His hair was fresh and it looked like he just left it to air dry. He held out his hand and she reached out for it like it was second nature. Sometimes it was really hard to forget that they weren’t actually dating.

“I know you’re probably nervous about tonight, but trust me, they’ll love you. There’s no need to worry about anything. We have our story straight, so if my mum asks you anything, don’t be scared to answer. I’ll be next to you the whole entire time. Also, knowing how crazy my mum is, she’ll definitely pull out the baby book. I’m not ashamed, just exasperated.”

Juvia couldn’t help but giggle at his attempt to make her relax. It worked. She felt her shoulders loosen up and she was ready to take on the world. They got to his house and Natsu pulled out the key that he still had to the place. It was probably for times where he didn't have anything to eat and he could easily come and steal some food when his family weren’t around.

“Natsu honey, that you?!”

“Yeah it’s me mum!”

“Ooooh, I’m coming down!”

Natsu ushered Juvia into the living room, whispering that his dad was most likely there, which he was. The man looked up and Juvia’s eyebrows popped up into her hair. They actually looked the same! It was so easy to see where Natsu had gotten his looks from. They had the same sharp eyes and pink hair. Although the man’s pink hair was a little duller than Natsu’s, probably from where he was going to start graying soon. She could feel herself clamming up.

“Ano, hello sir. It’s so nice to meet you. Thank you for allowing Juvia to have dinner with you all.”

She bowed a little bit and his dad stood up, a huge Natsu-like grin on his face. “Wow, aren’t you polite! It’s nice ta meetcha too! I hope your niceness rubs off on my boy here! He could do with a really nice gal like you!”

He slung his arm over Natsu, much like Natsu always did to Juvia and he grinned while Natsu elbowed him on his side.

“Get off of me, ya old man! MUM, COME AND SAVE ME!”

“I’m here, I’m here! Oh darling, don’t embarrass him in front of his girlfriend! Oh my  _ goodness,  _ aren’t you just the most  _ beautiful  _ girl ever?! Are you sure you want to date my son?!”

Natsu’s jaw dropped as Juvia giggled. “MUM, HOW COULD YOU?”

She laughed. “Oh you know I’m just joking honey!”

Juvia smiled, feeling at ease. They were just as crazy as her family and that made her feel right at home. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs Dragneel.”

“Oh please, call me Hikari. Or even mum.”

She winked at Juvia and both Juvia and Natsu blushed as his parents just laughed with one another. They heard another set of footsteps coming down the stairs and it was Wendy who beamed at Juvia.

“Oh, if it isn’t my _ sister-in-law _ !”

“Wendy,” Natsu threatened under his breath and Juvia was immediately overwhelmed. She could see where Natsu got his liveliness from. His whole family was crazy. Honestly, she should have been used to it. Her family was the EXACT same. She doesn’t wish to be caught by  _ her  _ mother and then drag Natsu to one of her family dinners, because she was sure her heart wouldn’t be able to take it.

Natsu’s dad bellowed out his laughter as they all made their way to the kitchen. Wendy had already set the table and Natsu raised an eyebrow when he saw six places at the table were laid.

“You guys expecting someone else?”

The moment those words passed through his lips, he heard the front door open and his eyes widened, before both him and Wendy shot off. Juvia stared at them before looking over at the parents who smiled simply.

“Their big brother is back. He told us not to tell them that he’s coming back today. He’s going to be here for Christmas! I’m so happy, he hasn’t had Christmas off in a few years.”

Juvia smiled when she saw the Dragneel parents grin at each other and soon, the three siblings came back into the dining room. Natsu’s grin was wider than usual as he was next to his brother. Juvia noted that he got his looks from their mother and so did Wendy, although the blue hair wasn't from either parent.

“Mum, dad. It’s so good to see you guys after so long.”

They hugged him the moment Natsu and Wendy released him and they were all wearing grins. Juvia couldn’t help but stand awkwardly. She felt like this was the wrong time to be invited to a family dinner. They were practically in the middle of a reunion! 

Soon, Zeref’s eyes fell on her and he looked a little surprised, before he turned a sly gaze to Natsu. Natsu caught the look and he couldn’t help but look a little flustered. Juvia was just glad that she wasn’t the only one feeling this way.

“Oh? Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“R-right! Juvia, this is my older brother, Zeref. Zeref this is Juvia...my girlfriend.”

Wendy snorted from Zeref’s left hand side as she went to her seat. She was the only one who really knew what was going on, but she dare not say anything. Natsu ignored her as Juvia smiled a little bit and bowed her head.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Zeref-san. Juvia has heard quite a bit about you.”

Zeref suddenly looked excited, as if he were happy that Natsu had chosen a girl with manners. “Oooh, she’s cute too! Natsu, you’ve done really well!”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” he growled out.

Wendy smirked a little bit, ready to join in with the teasing of her big brother. Natsu was a hard person to tease as he never really felt embarrassment. She wasn’t going to let this moment pass her by, despite knowing that they weren’t even dating. “Because you have. Juvia-chan, are you sitting next to me?”

Natsu frowned and shook his head. “She’s sitting next to  _ me. _ ”

“Um no, she’ll be sitting next to  _ me.  _ I need to get to know my daughter-in-law after all. Come Juvia, come and sit! Wendy, get up and help me start dishing out the food! Juvia, I’m so sorry that I forgot to ask Natsu what your favourite dish is. I hope my dinner will be up to your standards?”

Juvia nodded as she sat down. Natsu’s dad was sat down at the head of the table and guessing from the position of where Juvia herself was sitting, Natsu’s mum was going to sit at the other head of the table.

“Juvia is sure that whatever Hikari-san makes will be absolutely delicious.”

The woman beamed and Natsu’s family laughed. Their mum loved it when her cooking was complimented.

“Mum, Juvia made the perfect hottest meal for me the other day. She used a scotch bonnet.”

Natsu’s dad perked up. “A scotch bonnet? What’s that?”

Zeref spoke. “It’s like a bell pepper but a lot smaller and a lot hotter. It’s so hot that it practically shrivels itself up! I’m surprised you’ve never had it dad.”

The man shrugged as he held his plate out for Wendy to fill with food. “You know your mother doesn’t like hot food. Still, you must really have feelings for my son if you’re cooking for him already.”

Hikari nodded in agreement. “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. That saying has rung true when it comes to my son and my bonehead husband.”

“Hey! But you love me!”

“I do honey.”

They shared a kiss and the four of them turned away, with the siblings pretending to vomit at how nauseous their parents were making them. Natsu turned his head to Juvia to apologise for the scene and found that Juvia was looking directly at him. She blushed at the fact that she was caught, but it just made Natsu grin at her as he held her hand underneath the table.

Her fried nerves calmed down immediately, it was magical. The power that Natsu had on her, she wondered if he felt the same way. He must do to an extent, right? She tried to think back to all the minimal times that they had hung out in the past and tried to think whether or not he was this touchy feely with Lucy, or if he was only this way with her.

Soon enough, everyone was sat at the table, laughing and eating before the questions started being asked.

“So Juvia, how did you and Natsu meet?”

This was a very simple question to answer and Juvia was more than happy to answer it. “Ano, we met through Gray. Juvia went to the same university as Gray and Lyon-kun and we had a huge hangout back in the first year of university. We weren’t really close, but we got close because of work.”

Hikari nodded, impressed. “So you guys now work at the same company? Same department?”

The bluenette shook her head. “Oh no. Same company yes, but Juvia works in sales.”

“Nice. I hope Natsu’s been treating you well?”

Juvia beamed and nodded her head at Kasai. Natsu was right, it was so easy to lie when there’s the element of truth in it. “Yes sir! Natsu treats Juvia in the best way possible. We also like introducing each other to our hobbies. Juvia got Natsu to ice skate.”

Wendy’s jaw dropped. “Shut. UP! No way did you get Natsu to skate! WE should go skating too!”

Natsu groaned at his sister, but she expertly ignored him and Juvia smiled and rolled her eyes at Natsu’s behaviour. Zeref watched in amusement.

“We should! Natsu has already invited Juvia to Wendy’s next competition. Juvia would really like to see Wendy-chan in action.”

The girl blushed and nodded, getting out her calendar on her phone. “I’ll get the date of my next meet and hopefully you’ll be able to make it. I would love to have you there!”

Juvia smiled happily and Natsu couldn’t help but smile because of it. She slotted right in with his family and it looked like she really belonged there. He knew that she was nervous, because he was nervous as hell too. It didn’t matter though, he knew his family would love her.

“So if you took Natsu skating, I’m guessing he took you to a sumo match?” Zeref asked curiously. He had known of his crush on Lucy, who just so happened to be his girlfriend’s cousin, but she wasn’t a fan of most things that Natsu did. Sure, she appreciated that they were his hobbies and as a best friend she would never knock him down for it, but she herself couldn’t get into it. He also knew his brother bent over backwards to do the things she liked but it was never reciprocated. 

Juvia turned to face Zeref, an excited gaze in her eyes. “Yes! It was amazing! Juvia tried her best to learn some of the rules beforehand so that she wouldn’t bother Natsu during the match, but Natsu still helped Juvia out anyway. The guy that Juvia was watching on lacrimatube to try and learn the sport was the same guy we went to go and see! It was amazing, Juvia would love to go to more matches.”

Hikari grabbed Juvia’s hand, her eyes shining like stars. It was the same for Kasai and Natsu wanted to die from embarrassment. His parents were freaks sometimes.

“Natsu, you MUST marry this girl! We’re a sumo family here you see, so any girl who loves sumo is loved by us. Aww, I hope the two of you never break up!”

Juvia blushed deeply before turning to face Natsu. They both had the same expression on their face. Embarrassment laced with worry. They were both  _ fucked. _

~x~

After dinner, everyone headed to the living room to watch a film. Juvia was dragged into it and she was shocked that she was invited to do so. She thought that she would only be here for dinner, but they clearly weren't done with her. Even Natsu was looking a little worried.

"Guys, don't forget we have work in the morning."

"And I'm sure that just one movie won't hurt. Besides, Juvia lives down the road! Oh, but you are NOT to stay around her place young man! You guys need to keep the boundaries, you’re not married yet!"

The two of them blushed deeply as they couldn't believe what she was insinuating. That was the  _ last  _ thing that they were going to be doing together!

They just followed the rest of the family into the living room, while Zeref was loading up the dishwasher. Juvia took one look at the set up of the living room and she felt herself panic. Where was she going to sit?!

Natsu's parents sat on the loveseat, Wendy took the beanbag and Zeref was probably going to take the single seater. There was another loveseat that everyone was definitely thinking that they would take.

Natsu sat down on it and patted the space next to him. They made eye contact with each other, and Juvia could instantly tell that Natsu was trying his best to comfort her yet again. It was working, because soon enough, she was sitting right by his side. She needed to stop being so nervous, it wasn't fair to him.

Everyone was grinning at them and Natsu leaned over to whisper in her ear, "ignore them. They're just super happy to see me with a girlfriend. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

Juvia gave him a confused look. "Make it up to Juvia? For what, why?"

"I didn't mean for you to get roped into meeting my family while we're lying. I know you're not comfortable."

Juvia reached out for his hand and smiled as she squeezed it. "It's okay. Juvia doesn't mind it at all, and your family is really nice. But thank you."

Zeref came back into the room as they found a film channel to watch. Four of them screamed that they wanted to watch the dragon chronicles and Juvia found herself rolling her eyes with a smile. She found it hilarious that the siblings plus their dad was eager to watch it.

Hikari gave Juvia an apologetic look. “We’re all big fans in this house as you can see. Sorry in advance if you don’t enjoy it.”

“It’s fine, Hikari-san. We’re all fanatics in Juvia’s house too.”

Natsu lit up as he spoke to his mum. “Juvia has a  _ water dragon  _ tattoo! It was her older brother who did mine!”

Wendy gasped and clapped her hands as the rest of the family looked intrigued. Juvia ended up rolling up her sleeve for them all to marvel at it. “I want the air dragon tattoo! Can your brother do it?”

Juvia laughed and shrugged her shoulders. “Juvia doesn’t see why not.”

Wendy had stars in her eyes. “Your older brother is so cool, doing tattoos and stuff! Meanwhile, both of mine are useless.”

Zeref threw a cushion at the back of her head and Natsu threw one at her face as she pouted at the both of them. Juvia laughed and Natsu put his arm around her shoulders. Juvia bit her lip as she looked up at him. He wasn’t looking at her, but he wore an easy grin on his face, almost as if he were really happy that she was here. She decided to live in the moment and lean into him. She didn't know whether or not she would get this chance again with him.

Half way during the movie, Natsu’s hand started running up and down Juvia’s arm gently. Her breath was caught in her throat as she sucked in a deep breath, but she made sure to not grab anyone’s attention.

“You alright there?” Natsu whispered softly under his breath. Juvia nodded quickly in response, not trusting herself to speak. She knew that she would end up saying something that would embarrass her.

“Relax,” he practically hissed out into her ear.

_ “Juvia was until Natsu started doing this!” _

“You’ve been so tense since I put my arm around you. You want me to pull my arm back?”

_ “Juvia has?” _

“No, it’s fine. Juvia didn’t realise she was so tense. Sorry.”

Natsu chuckled lightly. “It’s cool. I don’t wanna make you uncomfortable.”

Juvia found herself relaxing as she smiled. “Natsu could never make Juvia feel uncomfortable.” Her shoulders laxed, leaning her head on his shoulder. Her breath came out in puffs against his neck and she felt him shiver as she chuckled. She felt like he was more in her presence. She could smell him now and his body heat was coming off in waves as she felt herself relaxing even more. 

_ “Juvia’s feelings are so strong now.” _

~x~

“It was lovely to meet you Juvia!”

“Juvia is happy that she got to meet you guys too! Thank you for such a wonderful meal.”

Hikari awwed before hugging the girl. Kasai raised his hand in a wave as he pointed at his son who had made his way to Juvia’s side.

“You guys look cute together. Don’t be a stranger, y’hear? Hikari will pop up at your front door if she feels like it’s been too long since she last saw ya. Sorry you have to put up with ma son, but thank you for takin' 'im off our hands!”

Juvia giggled and nodded her head as Natsu gave his dad the bird. “Juvia is happy to take Natsu off of your hands. Juvia will make sure not to leave it too long so that Hikari-san comes to hunt her down. Goodnight! Goodnight Wendy-chan, Zeref.”

The siblings waved and Wendy made sure to get the older woman’s number so that she could text her herself about her figure skating competitions. Natsu rolled his eyes, but even Juvia could see the joy in his eyes when he saw her getting close to his family.

Natsu walked Juvia back to her house. They stopped on her doorstep and Juvia turned around to face her crush. He was grinning down at her and she smiled back at him, feeling a little shy. She was used to being close to Natsu, but tonight was on a whole different level. Arms around her waist, brushing her arms and even her thighs at some point. She was ready to combust at the memory.

“Thank you for inviting Juvia tonight. Juvia had a lot of fun meeting Natsu’s family and having dinner with them.”

She watched as Natsu grinned at her and shook his head. “Nah, thank  _ you  _ for coming. I can imagine that you musta been pacing about before I came to get you earlier.”

Juvia’s jaw dropped as she looked at him. “How did you know that?!”

Natsu laughed. “I heard you guys screaming and shouting when I came to get ya.”

Juvia hit his arm lightly and pouted. “Juvia was just so worried! Juvia didn’t know if she would be able to lie and hide the fact that we’re  _ not  _ dating from Natsu’s parents! But we were natural, huh?”

“Damn straight. We were so good at acting that I completely forgot that we’re not actually dating! But I told you that they will love you. I mean, I do. Who wouldn't love ya?”

Juvia immediately turned red. She wasn’t expecting that at all and she didn’t know what to say. She thought that maybe he would correct himself and say something else, but he didn’t. He looked at her almost expectantly, as if waiting for her to reply to that. She did what she did best and acted like it didn’t affect her.

“Hmm, Juvia would say that Gray doesn’t feel the same way that Natsu feels.”

_ "Idiot, why mention him?!" _

They both laughed out into the night. “Yeah well, we’re not the same. Like I’m way better at everything than he is. I’m also way hotter than him.”

His voice dropped a few octaves as he stood closer to her. Sometimes, she couldn’t believe how  _ tall  _ Natsu was compared to her. His voice sent a shiver down her spine, but if anyone asked, she was ready to say that it was the night time chill that made her shiver. He made his voice deep and ripple through her at will and she hated how much power he had over her.

“Oh is that so? Hmm, Juvia isn’t so sure she can see it.”

They were always teasing each other. Sometimes though, Juvia wasn’t too sure if it would get the both of them in trouble. What they were doing right now was getting really dangerous, because she wasn’t sure if they were playing now or if they were being deadly serious. The sexual tension was crazy.

“Well that’s because you left your glasses on the desk at work. Maybe when you get them on you’ll see just how hot I am. Right now you can probably only see 25% of my hotness potential.”

Juvia giggled at his cockiness as he shot her a smirk. “Wow, Natsu’s ego is bigger than his love for the Dragon Chronicles.”

He smirked and shrugged at her as if it were no big deal. “Go big or go home.”

“Natsu’s right, he should go home. It’s getting late and we’ve got work in the morning. But seriously, thank you.”

Her heart couldn’t stop pounding. The citrus smell of his shower gel had mixed in with his cologne and it had controlled her olfactory for the whole night. She found herself almost leaning in just to sniff him. 

She watched as Natsu’s hand came up to her hair and she almost smacked his hand away, thinking that he was going to do what Gajeel always does which is ruffle her hair. However, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and sighed out of his nose, giving her a grin.

“You’re amazing, you know that? Thanks for going along for this crazy shit and now even being forced to meet my parents. Even for doing the project with me and being my friend. Thank you.”

Juvia smiled in confusion. “Not like Juvia’s complaining or anything, but what’s brought this on? Juvia feels like there’s something more that Natsu isn’t telling her.”

He chuckled and moved his hand away from her head. “Nah, it’s fine. I just wanna show you my appreciation. But you should go inside. I’m not leaving until you’re in.”

Juvia nodded and tip toed up. She placed a kiss close to the corner of his mouth, her lips lingering a bit longer than the usual kisses that she had given him before. She was pretty sure she had seen Lucy kiss Natsu’s cheek, so hopefully he saw it in a friendly kind of way. So far, he probably did because he wasn’t turning her away for doing it. It was funny that it was the kiss on the cheek that got them in this situation in the first place.

“See you tomorrow, Natsu. Get home safe,” she whispered.

“Yeah...see ya...now go!”

Juvia laughed as she nodded and opened the door. She waved at Natsu once again before heading inside and closing it behind her. She couldn’t help but lean on the door, smiling as she felt giddy. She then rolled her eyes when she looked and saw Meredy peeking her head from the top of the stairs before she ran down to her.

“So come on! Tell me! How did it go? What happened? You were gone for quite a while. Don’t tell me that when you finished dinner at his parents’ house that you went back to his place and-”

“NO! Nothing like that happened! We started watching a film and played a few games! It’s a thing they do whenever they have dinner together as a full family. Juvia got to experience it with them. It was fun. Juvia is still innocent, don’t worry.”

“Aww, Juvia. My poor baby. I bet you almost shat yourself with all the nerves.”

Juvia rolled her eyes at her friend with a smile. “Lyon-kun’s gone home?”

“Yep, he has. Ultear-senpai has him doing his own project tomorrow, so he wanted to go home early and sleep. I can just feel that she’s going to work him to the bone.”

They both giggled as they headed upstairs. Juvia was going to take a shower and get ready for bed. She was exhausted. She had mentally drained herself from worrying and stressing over whether Natsu’s parents would like her or not and now that the adrenaline had left her, she could really feel how much her energy had been depleted by.

“Ultear-senpai is a slave driver to her brothers. Juvia guesses that’s why Gray didn’t want to work at the same company where she’s a manager. Juvia does miss her though.”

“Yeah, why did you end up going to the one you’re at now?  _ Please  _ don’t tell me it was because of Gray.”

Meredy had a pleading look in her eyes, as if to tell Juvia not to say it, but the moment Juvia looked away was the moment Meredy sighed with disappointment.

“I should have known.”

Juvia felt like she needed to argue her case. “To be fair, Juvia did want to work there. They’re just as good there. But yes, Juvia did go mainly for Gray, even though she knew she wouldn’t even get to see him anyway. We aren’t in the same department as we didn’t even study the same things in university. It’s fine though. Juvia has finally stopped pining over him and Juvia...Juvia likes Natsu now.”

She glowed when she said that. It was sometimes so hard to believe that her feelings had really shifted over to Natsu. Definitely no one would expect it as Natsu and Gray are so different. Despite them hanging out the whole time, anyone who knew Juvia would be surprised if she told them she liked Natsu. Good friends were all they had ever shown to everyone, not a potential girlfriend and boyfriend situation. 

Meredy smiled softly at her friend, happy that she had found someone that she likes. “You should ask him out.”

Juvia gave her a panicked look. “What? And Juvia should embarrass herself?! Been there, done that, it’s not fun.”

Her friend crossed her arms. “You had no problem asking Gray out like every day for three years straight.”

“Exactly, and look where that got Juvia. Two years on and we’re  _ not  _ dating and Gray even forgot that Juvia works at the same company as him. Juvia will not be doing that again.”

Meredy rubbed at her temples and Juvia knew that she was making this difficult, but she just couldn’t get hurt again. Ever since Gray had told her a year ago that him and Lucy were dating and that she should back off (he was drunk, so she let the rudeness slide), Juvia had pretty much sworn herself off of love. It wasn’t for her and she clearly had a lot of maturing to do before she should get in a relationship. Sure she found men passing by her attractive, but she hadn’t actively  _ liked  _ anyone. Well, that was until Natsu came into her life..

“Juvia, you shouldn’t be afraid. You’re different now, at least when you ask him out it will pretty much be a one time thing, right? It’s not like you’re a love struck puppy now and you won’t badger him. You’ll respect his wishes. But that’s only if he says no and I’m 100% certain that he’s going to say  _ yes. _ ”

Juvia sighed, standing in front of the bathroom. “Juvia appreciates what Meredy-chan is saying, but Meredy-chan is a marriage counselor, not a love expert. Juvia wants to believe what Meredy-chan is saying but...she’s nothing special. Why would Natsu go for her?”

She wanted to believe it, she really did. But yes of being put down by guys, being called creepy and gloomy and people being frightened of her really does knock down a person’s confidence. She might be different now, but old habits die hard and she was pretty self-deprecating at times. 

Meredy stepped forward and hugged her best friend. Juvia hugged her back, feeling like it had been too long since they did something like this, despite having Sue round just last week to have a catch up.

“It’s annoying, because no matter what I say, you never believe me! I want you to know that any guy who has you in their life is lucky and I bet Natsu knows that too. Trust me, if you’re not going to ask him out, I have a feeling that he’ll do it.”

“That would be great, but Juvia knows he’s still trying to get over Lucy-chan. Juvia will at least give him some time.”

Meredy sighed, but was otherwise happy with her response. She understood that at least. “Well if you say so then. I’ll leave you to go and shower. I love you.”

It was something they said every night before they went to bed, as if they were sisters. They might as well be, they knew each other inside and out and their families loved each other.

“Juvia loves Meredy-chan too.”

_ “Should Juvia ask out Natsu-san? Juvia will maybe wait and see.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SOOOO sorry I'm late with this chapter! That was so evil of me, but I hope you enjoyed this one! Thank you for all the comments and kudos you guys are leaving, I'm so happy you're all enjoying the story so far!


	11. Chapter 11

“Hey Juves? You ever been to Fantasia before?”

Juvia raised an eyebrow and shook her head. They were halfway through their project now. They only had two more weeks to go and then it was going to be the end of their partnership as well as audits. The Christmas season was slowly approaching and who better to spend Christmas with than with Juvia?

“Juvia can’t say she has. What is it?”

Natsu couldn't help but feel excited. His plan was working. “It’s a Christmas parade that we have in Magnolia. I’m dead surprised you ain’t heard of it before. It’s pretty big, I thought they would have had the fliers all over Oaktown. Or maybe you guys have your own version?”

He watched as she shook her head, her high ponytail shaking from side to side. “Nope, there’s no Christmas parade in Oaktown, however we do have Hanami in the spring. That’s Juvia’s favourite time of the year.”

Natsu nodded slowly, trying to remember if he had heard of the festival that she was talking about. He knew that day very well. He knew that Sakura bloomed in abundance in Oaktown and had wanted Lucy to go with him, but they had multiple exams at the same time as the viewing each year.

“I’ve never been to Hanami, but it sounds nice. I can usually see all the flashing rainbow lights from here. I know my parents have been a few times, but I was always busy during those times. So it’s your favourite festival?”

Juvia nodded excitedly and Natsu couldn’t help but grin as he watched her talk. He could listen to her all day if he wanted to and he would never get tired of her voice. Her lips moved and he could see how full and pink they were with lipgloss. He had to look up into her eyes to stop himself from kissing her.

“But Natsu was planning to take Juvia to Fantasia?”

He was brought back down to Earth when she asked him a question. “Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I? We’ve done so much together and I know that this will be your first proper year in Magnolia, soooo I wanted us to go.”

He watched as she bit her bottom lip and he almost groaned at how  _ inviting  _ she looked. This was getting wild now. He had to ask her out otherwise he was going to burst. But he had the perfect scenery in his head and he was going to be damned if his plan was going to fail.

“Juvia would love to go with Natsu. It sounds like a lot of fun. But Juvia’s family also go to the peony flower viewing too. Juvia knows it’s not as popular as Hanami, but because Juvia’s mum likes flowers so much, we usually go to as many viewings as we can. Maybe if Natsu wants, we can go to both the peony viewing and Fantasia?”

She was looking up at him through her eyelashes and Natsu couldn’t but notice how long they were. He wondered if she used mascara, but he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference whether she did or not. The more he looked at her, the more he was ready to confess. He hoped that nothing would interrupt them, just like it always happened in movies.

“Yeah, I would love to,” he breathed out. He hoped that he didn’t give himself away. “But wait, there are flowers that bloom in December?”

“Yep! Peonies bloom here in December. Secretly, that’s Juvia’s favourite flower. But anyway, what is Fantasia like?”

“You know Winter Wonderland here in Central Crocus?”

She nodded her head as Natsu grinned. “That has NOTHING on Fantasia! It’s like winter wonderland, but waaaay cheaper than it will ever be. There are rides, stalls for games and it ends with the parade. I used to be in it when I was younger. I used to dress up as a fire dragon, of course.”

Juvia’s eyes shone like little lapis lazulis and Natsu found himself mesmerised. Just when he thought that she couldn’t get any more beautiful, she  _ did.  _ Just how was that even possible?

“That sounds amazing! Way more fun than the Hanami! But Hanami is tradition in Juvia’s family, so Juvia will always try her best to go.”

Natsu looked up from the file. He had just realised something important here. “Wait, so you’re going with your family? But you want me to come along too?”

Juvia nodded and Natsu felt touched. He could feel this comfortable warmth in his chest and it swirled around, making him feel tingly. He was pretty sure that they both hadn’t been seen by a family member of hers, save for Gajeel who they told they were only friends. The fact that Juvia was willing to let her parents and her younger brother meet him, he really felt like they were going places.

“Well, Juvia can always let them know that we’re friends. After all, Juvia has dragged Lyon-kun and Meredy-chan a few times. Lyon-kun came one year without Meredy-chan too, so they shouldn’t be too suspicious of us.”

Natsu felt himself deflate a little bit, but he was still touched that Juvia still wanted to take him to something that was special to her and her family.

“Sounds cool to me. I would love to see what you’re like around your family, as well as meet them.”

Juvia practically growled and that made Natsu snort in amusement as well as surprise.

“Juvia’s brothers bring out the worst in Juvia. Juvia’s dad is crazy and Juvia’s mother is unhinged. Juvia is the only sane one in that family, though Natsu shouldn’t be surprised if he doubts that when Juvia is in their presence.”

He smirked devilishly at her. “That’s a side of you I’m practically  _ dying _ to meet. Sounds fucking exciting.”

Juvia rolled her eyes at him. “Juvia knew Natsu would say that. Anyway, we’ve done so much work today! Juvia would say that we’re ahead of schedule, just the way she likes it. Hmm, should we treat ourselves with a cigarette?”

Natsu nodded enthusiastically as they both pushed their chairs back to stand up. He knew that both Gray and Lucy were going to be in the cafeteria and that they would want to talk to him. He had pretty much ignored everyone’s messages yesterday, save for Juvia’s but people knew better than to try and contact him on his family days. He also knew that him and Zeref were gonna have a long talk tonight about Juvia. He was going to be upset that he wasn’t told about her, despite their relationship not being real.

As soon as they got through the doors, Gray looked at his watch dramatically before turning to Lucy. “Just like clockwork, they’ve come down to burn away their lungs.”

Natsu rolled his eyes at him and Juvia just smiled and shook her box of cigarettes. “Burning away at our lungs and breathing out like fire dragons too.  _ Exciting. _ ”

Natsu burst out laughing at her sarcasm and Juvia handed him one as they made their way out of the door. Before the door closed, the couple watched as Natsu fished out his lighter and lit up Juvia’s cigarette for her, even though the tip was now in her mouth. They couldn’t believe what they had just seen, but the door then closed, blocking their view of what they were doing outside.

“Natsu, are you avoiding them?”

He shook his head, paused and then shrugged. “I dunno. To be honest, ever since they told everyone that they’re a couple, and they started acting like one, it just  _ pisses  _ me. Not because I’m still into Luce or anything.” He had to add that end part in quickly so that Juvia didn’t get the wrong idea and think that he was still into her. Not at ALL.

“They just...make me sick. They seem to rub it in my face that  _ I’m  _ not dating anyone and all our other friends are all dating someone, so I thought instead of being the third to seventh wheel, I’ll just start keeping to myself. Not like they noticed anyway. They’re so stuck in their own little bubble that I guess our friendship is just strained. I always found it funny how  _ Lyon  _ could make time to hang out with me, but not Gray and Lucy.”

Natsu had never spoken about this with anyone. He still remembered the amount of physical and emotional pain he had been in for the last year and how he had kept it to himself. There were a few times where he almost told Lyon the truth, but he didn’t want the guy to worry.

He noticed Juvia looking at him with concern in her eyes. That was what he didn’t want to see. He didn’t want to see someone worried about him. He knew that it was only a matter of time before he had to tell her why he was really bitter with his two friends. Juvia wasn’t stupid, she was more than capable of putting two and two together. Suddenly, the cigarette between his lips was like poison, something that he should have been seeing it as this whole time.

“Then obviously you came along and I like your company. They don’t know that my fake girlfriend is actually you, so on top of them being weirded out that we’re hanging out so much, they also think that I’m cheating on this mystery girlfriend with you.”

Juvia chuckled in disbelief. “And Natsu got that all from observing them?”

He grinned cheekily. “Look, I know it’s hard to believe, but yeah. I watch people and their reactions towards me. I only used to do it so it was easier to prank people, but the older I got, the more I realised it’s actually a helpful skill to have in life. It also made me really good at hiding  _ my  _ emotions, so that people can never bother me as much. But I can tell they’re disappointed in me for ‘cheating’ on my girlfriend because I pay too much attention to you. I also know that Lucy’s upset because she thinks I replaced her with you.”

He watched as Juvia’s eyes widened at the revelation and then she furrowed her eyebrows. “Well, you guys haven’t hung out together in so long, it must be weird for her, right?”

Natsu took a drag of his cigarette and gave her a mildly annoyed look. He couldn’t remember the last time they hung out before Juvia came onto scene anyway.

“To me, she’s on some pot calling kettle shit. For the first six months of hers and Gray’s relationship, back when they hadn’t told me they were dating, she would blow me off every Saturday, saying she’s got shit to do. It eventually got to the point where  _ I  _ stopped asking her to do anything with me and I don’t think she realised I stopped asking and she never asked me. NOW she wants me to come to places with her when I’ve finally found someone who enjoys doing what I do and vice versa. Nah, she doesn’t get to try that shit with me.

“And Gray’s just as bad. He never even tried to come up with an excuse as to why we couldn’t hang. With him moving out from the suburbs and deep into the city, it made it a bit harder for us to see each other anyway. I guess that’s when I started getting closer to  _ Lyon  _ for fuck sake. It was my fault really. I never even pieced it together that Lucy and Gray were dating each other. But shit happens, and now it’s my turn to be petty I guess.”

Natsu actually felt good from letting that all go. He exhaled and squashed the rest of his cigarette on the bin to stub it out. He was done now.

Juvia smiled wryly as she let the ash fall to the ground. “Well, Juvia can’t say anything about that other than Natsu is a very observant person. Juvia is also sorry that they left you out of everything. You guys were basically the three musketeers, going everywhere together. That’s what Juvia thought of you guys when she first met you all anyway. For the two of them to never really include you...well they’re the ones missing out. Natsu is a great friend.”

He smiled with a wink. His crappy negative mood was dissolving and it was all because of Juvia. “That means the world coming from you. Thanks Juves.”

He watched as her cheeks practically burst into flames and he found it so funny how she always reacted like that. He never saw Lucy blush until she met Gray and that was probably a better indicator for him to know that Juvia did actually like him in some way. It increased his confidence for what he was going to do this Saturday.

“Juvia is going to go back in and buy a drink. Does Natsu want anything? NO, NOT YOUR WALLET!”

He laughed as she screamed at him and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, much like he used to do with Lucy and even Lisanna. It’s something he does with everyone so that at least no one would get the wrong idea about his feelings. If he didn’t tell you how he felt about someone, then that meant it wasn’t any of your business. And like he had told Juvia, Gray and Lucy were watching the two of them like a hawk. He didn’t want to let it slip that he liked Juvia.

“Aww c’mon Juves, you know it was funny.”

They were walking back inside now and just like he thought, Gray and Lucy’s heads turned to their direction. He purposely ignored them as Juvia growled at him. She was so sexy when she was mad. He had to do this more often. He grunted when her sharp elbow dug into his side, but it made his grin widen. What could he say, he likes it rough.

“Juvia needs to buy  _ something _ for you, stop wasting your money on Juvia. Now tell her what drink you want and Juvia will buy it herself.”

“Okay, okay. Just get me a bottle of water or something.”

“Okay!”

She practically whirled her way out of his arms as she made her way to the counter. Natsu sat back down in his seat, pulling out his phone and checking his messages. There was one from Gajeel talking about his next tattoo.

“So erm, you and Juvia are really close now, right?”

Natsu looked up when Gray spoke. He wondered if it made him uncomfortable, because he was comfortable with the girl who used to like him. Natsu shrugged and nodded. “Yeah we are. And she’s really good at her job too, really focused. She keeps me on track if my mind starts to wander.”

They all laughed a little bit, knowing that Natsu had the tendency to do that. He was easily distracted at times. But Natsu was with the small talk now. It was so obvious that there was a reason for him pointing out their friendship.

“So why don’t you guys ask me what you really want to ask me?”

The couple sighed. Because Natsu was crazy and happy-go lucky, they usually forget how perceptive he really is. Of course he sussed out that there was something that they wanted to talk to him about.

“Well, we were just thinking, maybe you should tone it down with the physical contact with Juvia? Like, you sound really serious with this girl that you’re dating and while  _ we  _ get that you  _ love  _ physical contact with all your friends, maybe you should pull it back a bit with girls? I mean, you don’t want your girlfriend getting jealous, right? I mean, if Gray was like this with other girls, I can’t lie and say that I would be happy with him.”

Natsu’s jaw almost dropped and he almost burst out laughing. So it was just like he thought. A little part of him thought that they had caught on and realised that his mystery girl was Juvia, but they didn’t think that he could be attracted to Juvia. Instead, they were worried that it might look like he was cheating on his new ‘girlfriend’. It was nice of them to look out for him, but if only they knew the truth.

“Yeah, sure. I mean I see no problem with it and she’s already met Juves anyway.”

That was the wrong thing to say because Gray’s eyebrows shot up and Lucy wore a really hurt expression on her face. He cursed mentally. To them, they probably thought that he was hiding this girl away from them because he didn’t want to talk to them. Their friendship had already become strained and yet he was now doing things with Juvia. For him to say that Juvia had already met this girl before them was going to push them apart even more.

“I mean, we all saw each other in the supermarket and I introduced the two of them to each other.”

Fuck, more lies.

“One bottle of water for you.”

He looked up and practically beamed at his saviour. She was smiling back at him and he took the water from her hand, making sure to not make contact. If their fingers brushed together, he wouldn’t know how to react and the last thing he wanted to do was short circuit in front of Gray and Lucy. 

“Thanks Juves. I owe ya one.”

“Not really. Anyway, what are you guys talking about?”

Lucy wasted no time replying. Everyone could hear the crack in her voice when she spoke, but everyone also ignored it for her sake.

“Oh you know. Natsu tells me that you met his girlfriend.”

Juvia nodded slowly. “Juvia bumped into them in the supermarket. She’s a really nice person. Juvia also felt Natsu’s awkwardness at the time too. It was clear that he didn’t want any of his friends to meet her just yet.”

_ “I could fucking kiss her right now and I wouldn’t care WHO sees it.” _

The only explanation would have been that Juvia heard what he was saying when she was coming back to the table. He ruffled his hair and looked back up at the couple who seemed to be pacified with the answer, especially as it was coming from Juvia. 

“We’ll let you off for now, flamebrain. But we’re gonna meet her one day.”

_ “If Juvia says yes to me, you would have already met her.” _

“Yeah, of course. Soon, I promise. Yo Juves, Gajeel wants me to come tonight to complete my sleeve. He’s going to add the colour.”

Before Juvia could respond, Gray did instead. “Gajeel? Man, I haven’t seen that guy in ages. Is he still a bastard?”

“The biggest.”

Juvia tutted from beside Natsu. “Juvia doesn’t appreciate her brother being spoken about like this.”

Natsu laughed and Gray looked horrified. He clearly didn’t realise that Gajeel was her brother. If she doesn’t say anything, no one would ever know. They didn’t look alike at all. Not a single feature looked the same. 

“No way are you related to him! That’s so unfortunate!”

“Gray,” Juvia gave him a warning with the tone of her voice. That shut him up immediately and Natsu could see the confusion settling in. Natsu felt smug when he noticed. It was clearly hard for Gray to come to terms that Juvia didn’t like him in that way anymore. In the past, Gray could do no wrong. She was head over heels for him and if anyone ever insulted Gray, Juvia was the first to respond. To see her giving him a warning as if she would beat him up the next time he said anything bad about her brother was hilarious to watch.

Natsu had never been happier. Gray meant  _ nothing  _ to her now, the same way she had meant nothing to him the whole time. This was a great sign. Perfect even. He was finally going to get the girl. This had never happened to him before. He could definitely get used to this.

“Dragneel, Lockser. You’re with me.”

The four of them looked up to see Erza beckoning for them to come over. Natsu pointed and both himself and then Juvia and Erza rolled her eyes with a huge sigh and the pair gave her a cheeky grin before standing up. 

“Guess I’ll see you guys later then.”

“Will you?”

They went silent and the look on Lucy’s face was enough to show them that she hadn’t meant to say it out loud. Juvia slipped away quickly. She didn’t do awkward situations and she felt like she shouldn’t be here listening to this. Natsu seemed to deal with the situation swiftly.

“Well yeah. We’re not in uni anymore where we’re always available. Free time is precious. And I remember being ignored for a year while I took the time to invite you guys out on Saturdays and you never came, so I’ll see ya when I see ya.”

He shrugged and just left them there as they followed Erza. Juvia clamped her mouth shut. She glanced up at Natsu and he wore a neutral look. She didn’t want to say anything in front of Erza, so she knew that she was going to have to speak to him about it later. She had no doubt that he didn’t like Lucy at all, but he was starting to get a little resentful. He sounded bitter that he was left behind for pretty much a year and now that he had the opportunity to do the same, he was being petty and spiteful. She couldn’t let him do that, but she was going to talk to him alone.

* * *

They both entered Gajeel’s studio after a long day with Erza going over some other things that they had to make sure they had done or were to do. It was tiring with Erza just talking at you constantly and Juvia had almost fallen asleep a few times, had it not been for Natsu who had to to pinch her thigh under the table to keep her awake.

“Juvia is sure that when she removes her tights, she’s going to see red bruises on her thighs.” 

Natsu just grinned. “And if anyone sees them, just say they’re love bites from when you were having hot sex with some guy.”

Juvia ignored and shoved him out of the way and smiled when she saw that it was Levy who was receptionist for the evening. She grinned at Juvia as they hugged each other. “Levy-chan! It’s been so long! How are you?!”

“Oh you know me, I’m pretty good. Working hard as per usual. I just got promoted, so I have even more time on my hands. I can afford to come and help out with Gajeel here now too. I’m just making some flyers because Gajeel wants another two tattoo artists and another piercer as well. With him raking in a lot of money and customers, it’s getting a bit much for him and Zera to handle it themselves. I’m just working on that now.”

Juvia nodded in excitement as she came around and looked at the computer screen, happy with the work she had done. She then looked up and pointed at Natsu.

“Juvia guesses that Levy-chan knows Natsu, right?”

Levy’s eyes turned to Natsu and her grin widened and she moved to hug him as well. “Of course I do! We went to school together! Wow, I can’t believe it’s you! I haven’t seen you in so long!”

Natsu grinned as he moved behind the desk. “It has been a while. You went off to the big shot uni for the big shot smart people and now you’re an alumni. Nice work, bookworm.”

She pouted, clearly hating that nickname that had stuck with her her whole life. Juvia snickered at the face as Levy waved her hand at Natsu, essentially shooing him away.

“Go, Gajeel’s in there setting up. I’m done talking to you now.” 

Natsu smirked and tried to pull Juvia along with him. Juvia shook her head. “Juvia is going to stay with Levy-chan. Natsu can go ahead. But, Juvia needs to talk to you about something. Sooo, when we’re finished, let’s go to that little restaurant that we went to before.”

Natsu gulped. Was Juvia deciding to step up and be the one to ask him out instead? Had he waited too long to do it himself and now she was going to take matters into her own hands? Juvia was always the one to ask Gray out without any shame, so he shouldn’t be surprised if Juvia does try to ask him out. In fact, he was almost offended that Juvia hadn’t tried to ask HIM out yet. Maybe he was reading all the signs wrong.

“Uh, yeah. Sure thing.”

Juvia smiled and then turned back to Levy to keep her company.

“Get the fuck over here and stop making moon eyes at my sister.”

Natsu jumped before he turned around and glared at Gajeel who was smirking before he then stared at the person sitting in the seat next to where Natsu was going to be sitting. He was looking down at his phone, but Natsu could instantly tell that he was the Redfox-Lockser youngest.

“Woah, you guys really  _ do  _ look alike! Man, Juvia really doesn’t look like any of you.”

The young man looked up when he realised that he was being spoken about. He smiled simply and mock saluted. 

“Yo, the name’s Rogue. We get that a lot. It’s kinda awkward when the three of us walk down the road together and we have to let people know that we are NOT having a threesome with our own sister.”

Gajeel groaned at the memories and Natsu snickered. Okay, so this guy was like a more chill version of Gajeel. He also looked a lot smarter. 

“Anyway, I’m done with my tattoo. Is Juvia out at the front? I haven’t seen her in so long.”

Natsu nodded. “Yeah, she’s busy keeping Levy company.”

“Sweet. Nice meeting you. JUVIA-NEE!”

“KAMI, ROGUE!”

He was off in a shot and Natsu could hear Juvia’s screams of joy. “Rogue’s in Uni, but he’s all the way in Caelum. He came back for the Christmas holidays, so Juvia’s excited to see him. No one’s allowed to miss any flower viewing holiday.”

Natsu nodded as he got into the seat. “Juvia told me about that. This one is the peony viewing.”

“Yup. It was our parents first date, so they kind of imposed it on us. I’m not complaining, it ended up being mine and Levy’s first date too. I guess I’m just a sentimental bastard.”

Natsu laughed as he rolled up the sleeve of his shirt. He watched as Gajeel got the gun and his ink ready. He couldn’t wait for it to be completed today. He was going to have a fresh sleeve done. He wondered if he should get something done on his other arm as well.

“When is the peony viewing festival?”

“This weekend. Levy’s taking me to Fantasia next weekend. Never been to it, but she keeps going on about it. Anything’s better than taking my girl to Winter Wonderland. I remember going with an ex one year and fuck ME was it expensive.”

Natsu nodded with an exaggerated sigh. “I remember I went with friends in uni and my wallet fucking hated me. I had to get my parents to give me some food because I was gonna end up starving to death. I never looked back at that place.”

Well, that was one thing they agreed on, but that now changed everything. He could have sworn that the two dates were the other way around. Well, at least they were on separate weekends because they had always been on at the same time.

“Gajeel. I’m planning to ask your sister out for real.”

The fact that he had used his real name and not ‘bastard’ already let Gajeel know that what he was about to say was for real. The fact that he had even decided to come and let him know what he was going to do, made Gajeel respect him. He stopped and looked at Natsu. He didn’t back down and stared back at him.

“You’re serious.” He didn’t even phrase it as a question and Natsu nodded in response.

“As serious as a heart attack. I don’t know how much of the situation Juvia let you in on, but we’ve been hanging out together as friends and I relay the information to my friends that I went on a date. It keeps them off my back. Juvia knows about this, I haven’t been using her blindly. But now that I keep on hanging out with her, I’ve found myself liking her, falling for her. I asked Lyon how I should ask her out and he told me to do it at a place that has meaning for her. Hearing how Hanami and all the other flower festivals are a tradition for you guys, I wanna ask her out there.”

Gajeel peered at him through his blood red eyes and Natsu felt uncomfortable for the first time ever, though he would never admit that to him. He would never let him know that he’s making him feel scared about his opinion.

“Dragneel. I’ve gotta say, you’ve got my respect right now. I’m pretty sure she’s told you how I’ve pretty much scared everyone away from her, but that’s because shitty men wanna try shitty things and it’s my job as her big brother to fuck up any cunt who dares to even look her way.”

Natsu nodded with understanding and Gajeel took it as a sign to continue with his words and the tattoo. Natsu knew what it was like. When Wendy hit that age where she could get male attraction, he was suddenly on alert, looking to beat up any trash that came near her.

“Only one guy was brave enough to try and date Juvia.”

“Bora. I met the prick at a sumo match. Fucking dick.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more. It was a bet. See if he could get Juvia into bed with him. He didn’t obviously. Juvia thinks I don’t know about it, but I do. I still had eyes and ears in that school to make sure her and Rogue were okay. Then Juvia falls in love with this other fucking idiot that she meets in uni and she’s even worse with it. She was acting like she had been starved from male attention and I guess that I was to blame for that. I mean I wasn’t exactly the perfect example. I was sleeping around with every girl I could find. Only difference was, I didn’t date and cheat on them. I just fucked around. Until I met Levy of course.

“But yeah, I met this Gray dick who had my sister acting all lovesick and I was tryna tell her that he ain’t like her like that, do you think she listened to me? Nope. Three damn years she tried to get his attention. By the fourth year she wasn’t tying as much, but then it died down and I never heard her say his name again. Then she shows up here with you.”

His eyes were back on Natsu’s and Natsu nodded slowly. “The moment you guys stepped into the shop, I hate to admit it, but you guys looked good together. I knew it was only a matter of time before you guys started liking each other. You didn’t give off the friends vibe like Juvia and Lyon do. But like I said, I respect you. You don’t fuck around with feelings, keep a girl waiting and you’re not as stupid as you try and make yourself out to be. Still fucking stupid though.”

Natsu rolled his eyes. Trust Gajeel to ruin the mood. “Gee, thanks.”

Gajeel gave him a feral grin. “But I know you would never treat my sister like shit. I can trust her with you, and look at you being all traditional and shit. Asking me, her brother for help. I think you’ve got a solid plan there, taking her to see the peonies. If you  _ really  _ wanna get further into her good books, make sure that you buy her purple stuff. And some peonies.”

Natsu raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Purple stuff? But her favourite colour is blue.”

Gajeel couldn’t help but laugh when he heard Natsu say that. Natsu realised what he sounded like and couldn’t help but growl and blush out of embarrassment. 

“Gihihihi! My sister’s got you  _ whipped _ ! Yeah her favourite colour is blue, but purple is symbolic. One of her favourite music groups uses the colour purple as a sign for never ending love or some crap like that. Girls  _ love  _ that shit.”

Natsu was making a mental note of everything he was saying as he nodded and retained the information. “Gotcha. So you’re happy with me asking her out? I’m fucking nervous man.”

Gajeel nodded as he wiped away some excess ink. Natsu looked down to see his dragon being finalised and it looked amazing, just like all of Gajeel’s other pieces. He grinned at the thought of Juvia’s dragon technically matching his dragon.

“Don’t be. I can tell that Juvia really likes ya. First of all, she has someone who  _ isn’t  _ family to geek out over the dragon chronicles with her, she’s started back up with swimming again and she loves watching someone do something they love more than she loves doing what she loves. I’ve been so busy with setting this place up and getting myself stable that I wasn’t able to show her around the place and help her get to know her way around. You’ve done that, given her someone to hang out with who isn’t Meredy and Lyon and she’s never been happier.  _ You  _ caused that Dragneel. I know damn well she’s falling for ya.”

Natsu blushed as he looked away. He clearly didn’t look away as fast as he thought because Gajeel barked out his laughter, but he otherwise didn’t say anything.

“No point hiding your face from me, dude. Look at the kind of guy I am. I’m dating Miss bookworm. I know you guys went to school together and I know that that must be weird for you to see that she’s dating me. I ain’t gonna judge ya for liking someone and actually showing yer feelings. I would be worried if you didn’t show any feelings, like that bastard...Blue? Either way, I knew he wasn’t the one for Juvia.”

Natsu cackled when Gajeel got Gray’s name wrong and didn’t bother correcting him. They then started talking about everything and anything, discussing the new installment for dragon chronicles and the brand new game that was supposed to be coming out on console.

“Do you want me to get Rogue to get you something? I’m sure Juvia will jump up at the opportunity to get you fed.”

“Nah, it’s cool. Juvia told me that she wants to talk to me and is making me take her to my favourite restaurant. I’ve got no clue what she wasn’t to discuss. Could be work related for all I know, but she did look serious, so I doubt that it is.”

“Did you do something to piss her off?”

“Nah. At least I don’t think so. She would have said something by now if I did. She’s not really one to hold stuff like that in. When she tries, I usually know that there’s something wrong immediately. There’s probably something else that she wants to talk about.”

Gajeel shrugged. “I can’t tell ya man, I’ve got no clue. She hasn’t said anything, so I wouldn’t know. You’ll be fine. If you’ve pissed her off, just work some of your charm and she’ll be aight again.”

Natsu laughed. “Someone sounds like they’re used to doing it.”

Gajeel grinned with all his teeth. “You have no fucking idea.”

~x~

“Oh ho, you guys are back here? How are we tonight?”

It was a Monday night, so the restaurant was really quiet. It was also really late. Natsu’s arm was wrapped in cling film and Juvia was marvelling at it. Her whole family was so creative. She made clothes and Rogue loved art too. Gajeel was so talented, and that’s why she was happy enough to get him to tattoo her. She would get Rogue to design the tattoos and then Gajeel would do it. It felt like she had a piece of her brothers with her at all times.

“Yep, we’re back here! Juvia couldn’t get your food out of her head and now she wants it in her stomach.”

The girl blushed and tried to hide her face, but everyone chuckled lightly as Cosmos led them over to a table. She placed down their menus and winked at the couple before heading back over to their till to talk to her fellow colleagues. She knew that Juvia would take her time with her order because she wanted to slowly go through their whole menu.

Natsu pulled out Juvia’s chair for her and he beamed at her pink cheeks. It really is a sight to behold when he gets her blushing. “Natsu doesn’t have to do that for Juvia.”

“I know I don’t have to, but I really want to. It’s not like it bothers me, so it’s cool.”

He tried to make himself sound nonchalant, but he was scared that he was giving himself away. Juvia smiled and nodded as she picked up the menu to take a look. While what she had last time was nice, she wanted something else. She wanted to try everything that they had to offer. Natsu himself knew the menu inside and out and knew what he was getting already. As soon as their orders had been taken, Juvia cleared her throat. Natsu had been waiting for this moment.

“Natsu...Is Natsu still bitter about Lucy-chan?”

“What?”

The question had fallen out of his mouth before he could even stop it. He hadn’t meant for it to be that loud, but he was genuinely surprised by the question. He probably looked extremely confused and he was happy when Juvia continued to explain herself. She looked almost as nervous as he felt.

“What Juvia means is that she couldn’t help but notice that Natsu is getting more and more spiteful whenever he speaks to Lucy-chan. Juvia understands that he wants them to have a taste of their own medicine because they made you feel left out for a whole year, but being angry isn’t the way to go.”

Natsu almost looked ashamed. It looked like he was going to end up telling her about what he had been hiding sooner rather than later. “Oh, you can tell?”

She nodded her head. “Juvia has always been able to tell. At first she thought maybe Natsu hasn’t gotten over Lucy-chan, but then Juvia realised that that wasn’t the case. While Lucy-chan is being a hypocrite, it wouldn’t do Natsu any favours to be salty.”

He laughed at her phrasing and nodded, realising that she was right. Why did she have the power to read him like a book? Why did she take the time to sit back and analyse him, as well as get to know what is eating away at him? No one had done that for him since Lisanna had left the country. He hid behind his mask so well that many people never knew what was going on in his mind. Yet here was Juvia admitting that she was always aware when there was something up with him.

“I can’t fucking hide anything from you, can I?”

She gave him a half shrug, reaching her hand onto the table and clasping his hand in both of hers. “Juvia doesn’t want Natsu to hide anything from Juvia. Natsu isn’t alone, not when Juvia is right here. Holding onto all that anger, all that bitterness, it’s not good for anyone. From Juvia’s point of view, Natsu still hasn’t gotten over Lucy-chan.”

He pulled his hand away from hers and Juvia sighed, knowing that that would happen. “Yes I have! I don’t like her anymore! I don’t  _ want  _ her like that anymore! Trust me, I’ve got no feelings for her!”

Juvia looked at him. She believed him, but there was clearly still a trace of his feelings for her within him. 

“Then why is Natsu so mad then? If you don’t care what she does or have any feelings for her anymore, why is Natsu still so angry with Lucy-chan?”

Natsu looked at her. She wasn’t judging him. She wasn’t trying to get him to apologise for his actions, she was just trying to understand them a little better. She just wanted to be there for him.  _ This  _ was the sort of girl he had fallen for and he really hoped that she didn’t actually think he hadn’t gotten over Lucy when he really has.

“Because...Because I was going through some shit of my own for the last year and a half and no one fucking gave a damn. I lived every fucking day like it was my last and when I wanted my friends to be there with me, to hang out with me and shit, I was turned away every fucking time. Only Lyon was there for me.”

Something struck Juvia a bit too hard. This genuinely had nothing to do with his feelings for Lucy. This was definitely above Gray and Lucy dating, despite Lucy knowing his feelings for her. She didn’t like where this conversation was going, but she had to know. She could feel her throat clog up with emotion. Natsu sounded so angry, so  _ hurt.  _ No, this was bigger than heartbreak.

“Natsu? If you can’t continue, then it’s fine. Juvia was just trying to help, but it looks like she was being nosey. That’s not what Juvia intended. It’s fine if you don’t want to go on.”

Natsu laughed a little bit, but there was no humour in it at all. He looked at her before sighing and reaching forward, holding her hands that were still on the table. He had kept this secret for so long that it was slowly eating away at him. Juvia was right. He  _ can’t  _ stay bitter and angry, but he wanted Juvia to be the first to know.

“Juvia, what I’m about to say can’t be repeated to anyone. When I say no one knows, I mean that no one important to me knows. Not my parents, not my siblings, not Lucy, not Gray. When I tell you what I’m going to say, only me and you will know. Oh and HR of course, but they’re not important.”

No pressure at all. He watched as Juvia gulped and nodded her head. He had half a mind to tell her that he was a killer and that he was secretly part of some mafia famiglia. While that would be funny, this wasn’t the time for that sort of humour. Not when it wasn’t funny.

He held her hand tightly, almost as if to comfort himself. He felt her hold him back just as tight and she gave him an encouraging smile. A smile that let him know that she was always going to be there for him. He was grateful for that smile. It was what he needed right now.

“Juvia, I had cancer.”

He watched a myriad of emotions flittered over her face in the space of like a second. Her eyes were wide as she pulled her hands away from him and they flew to cover her mouth as she looked at him. He then peeled his eyes away from her when he saw Cosmos coming out with their food. He watched out of the corner of his eyes as she tried to act normal before Cosmos got to their table.

“Here ya go love birds! Food all piping hot and freshly made, just like ya like it! Have a beautiful evening, okay?”

Natsu nodded and grinned. Juvia also threw her own killer smile at her and was polite like usual. The moment Cosmos was gone, the worry came back. Natsu wasn’t sure if she was going to eat again after this. She honestly looked like she was going to collapse. He was pretty sure he looked the same way when he was told about his diagnosis.

“Natsu...how could you tell nobody?”

He sighed. He knew it would come to this. For no one else to know, it was a shock. He felt his very core shake when her voice came out as a cracked whisper. 

“I didn’t want anyone to worry at the time. It was pretty painful to do shit, but I came in to work whenever I could, but that was fucking barely. Zeref was away all of last year, he didn’t get to come back once. I would never hear the end of it from my parents. They would treat me like a sick person.”

“Because you were fucking sick!” She practically screeched at him.

Natsu reeled back. He had never heard Juvia swear before and right now, it had surprised him. The look in her eyes were wild. She wasn’t impressed and she was definitely raging if she had just sworn and she didn’t even look apologetic for doing so. Her eyes then widened as if she had realised something horrifying.

“And on top of that, we’ve been smoking together! Fuck! How could Juvia carelessly indulge in something that is definitely not helping Natsu out here?! That’s it, no more smoke breaks! Juvia’s sorry, but we’re going to get you to stop with immediate effect! Juvia is NOT having Natsu go through that pain again! If something like this ever happens again, at least tell Juvia if you can’t tell anyone, okay? Promise Juvia.”

He heard her voice crack during her rant and then the tears started falling. This was exactly why he didn’t want anyone to know about his situation in the first place. His throat clogged up at the sight of Juvia crying over  _ him. _ He wasn’t someone who deserved tears. He definitely shouldn’t have made Juvia cry.

“Fuck Juves, I didn’t mean to make you cry. I’m sorry.” He reached over the table and used his thumb to wipe her tears. She grabbed his wrist and shook her head, pulling his hand away from her face. She looked at him with hard eyes and he felt hurt. Did she hate him? That was probably one thing that he could never live with.

“Don’t apologise for something that wasn’t your fault. Let Juvia cry over this, okay? But Natsu still hasn’t promised Juvia...”

He sighed with relief. So she  _ doesn’t  _ hate him. “I promise you I’ll tell you if something like this ever happens again in my life. But don’t cry over me.”

Juvia shook her head, more tears falling down her face. “No promises to that. Let Juvia cry over this, but let Juvia be there for you. That’s what Juvia will promise to do. So how did you heal? Juvia is sure she would have noticed a bald Natsu around if you chemotherapy.”

She tried to make a little joke about it and he laughed and ruffled his hair with his free hand. “Nah, I didn’t bother with chemo. I went to a doctor, the one that my cousin goes to. It’s his aunt on his mum’s side, so nothing to do with me, but she’s really holistic. She doesn’t believe in all that medicine bullshit, just natural herbs and treatment. I was so fucking worried that it wasn’t going to work out, but she fixed me up real good. Like, so fucking good that I go to her now for any trouble. She gave me a list of shit that I need to do and that I’m not allowed to eat, which is why even though I eat a shitload of food, there’s certain shit I don’t eat.”

Juvia soaked in everything he was saying and Natsu tilted his head when he saw the calculated look she was wearing. She had been silent the whole time he was talking, but her expression wasn’t easy to read. “What are you thinking?”

“Juvia is thinking that now she knows this, she’ll be a terrible friend not to do anything about it, so Juvia is going to be cooking all of Natsu’s meals. No more ready made crap, Natsu needs real food in his system and Juvia is going to be the one to make sure that that happens. Just give Juvia a copy of the food list and Juvia will make it. No arguing. Shut up and eat your food now.”

Natsu actually snapped his mouth closed and held back whatever it was that he was going to say to her and nodded his head in a ‘yes ma’am’ fashion. She seemed satisfied with that and they started eating their meal together. Juvia found that although she enjoyed her food, she felt sick. Natsu was dealing with cancer for over a year and nobody knew. She wanted to say that her excuse was that she didn’t really know him as well as she should have and that they only recently started hanging out, but that wasn’t enough. She should have said something when she started seeing Gray and Lucy come to the cafeteria without him.

It took them a while, but they finally finished their food. Juvia was going to leave the half that she couldn’t eat, but it would seem rude as well as suspicious, so she tried her best to eat every last bite. Natsu himself was struggling to stomach his own food and it was clear that it was because of the topic previously discussed.

Juvia snatched Natsu’s card away from him to stop him from paying and made the payment herself. He groaned at her and she smirked as she handed the card back and even handed Cosmos a tip. The woman smiled. “Thanks for that, cutie. But if Natsu is willing to pay, let him do it, okay?”

Juvia nodded her head, despite not wanting to heed to that advice in the future. “Juvia will. Goodnight!”

Everyone waved them off as they left the place. Because they had come straight from the station, they had to walk back home. It was already late and Natsu’s main priority was getting Juvia back to hers.

“Come on, let me walk you home.”

“What, no! Juvia will be fine. Natsu lives in the other direction. Juvia can’t make you walk her home and then you walk back!”

“Juves, I ain’t leaving ya to walk home by yourself. I’m not fucking crazy to do that.”

Juvia huffed. “Then come home with Juvia. Natsu can sleep round!”

He raised an eyebrow before he smirked. “Oh, you want me in your bed that badly, huh?”

The girl practically screeched at his where his mind was - in the gutter. She didn’t know how to react to that, but she didn’t have to because soon Natsu was laughing.

“I’m just  _ joking  _ Juves! If I do come around to yours, I’ll sleep on the couch! But I think I’ll just go to my parents’ place. Remember, they live on the same road as you? I don’t have to sleep around yours. Sorry to disappoint ya.”

Juvia glared at him as they started walking. “Luckily I’ve got clothes for work at their place, but I’ll go to the gym in the morning anyway and then maybe go home from there. But saying that, I could just come back and walk with you.”

Juvia nodded. “Let’s go to the leisure centre together then! Juvia will go for a swim and Natsu can go to the gym! Then we can go to work together. Sound good?”

He nodded his head. Any time spent with Juvia was more than good. “It sounds great.”

Juvia nodded and Natsu watched as she reached out for his hand. As soon as it made contact, she clasped her fingers around his and squeezed it tightly. He knew that she was still thinking about what he had told her. It was a shock to think that he had cancer and because he hadn’t told anyone about it, it almost seemed like that part of his life hadn’t happened. Sometimes he forgot that it was something that happened to him. Telling Juvia reminded him of how real it was. As well as the simple fact that he really should stop smoking.

“Juvia wasn’t joking when she said that Natsu has to tell Juvia when he’s sick. Natsu is important to Juvia, she wouldn’t know what to do without you. Juvia wishes that we were this close over a year ago, because Juvia would never blow off Natsu whenever he wants to hang out. Juvia understands that Natsu was hurt and betrayed, even now, Juvia doesn’t want to look at the two of them for doing that to you, but please let it go? Holding a grudge is so...so unhealthy and Juvia doesn’t want that to eat away at Natsu anymore than it should. Okay?”

He nodded his head, emotion drowning him from deep within. Juvia really does care for him. He also knew she wasn’t lying when she said that she would never blow him off. Right from the beginning, Juvia had shown that she is someone who will always say yes to any of his plans, granted she’s not busy. Even then, she’ll tell him why she can’t make it, not say ‘something came up’ like Gray and Lucy were always saying. He should have been able to guess.

“Juves, c’mon, stop crying.”

He had to wipe her tears away again and this time, she couldn’t help but fall into his arms and bury her face into his chest. This time, she was sobbing loudly, not caring how would see them together. He felt his eyes burn, wanting to cry with her. He had spent so many nights crying himself to sleep because of the pain or thinking that he would die alone that he just didn’t want to cry anymore.

“Juvia is sorry! Juvia can’t help it! Juvia can’t help but think of the pain that Natsu went through, all by himself! Juvia is sorry!”

“Shh. Juves, I’m fine now okay? And even if I’m not, I’ll tell you, okay? I hate seeing you cry, it makes  _ me  _ wanna cry. Tears don’t suit you.”

She hid her face well into his chest and squeezed her arms around his torso. Natsu wasn’t going to let the opportunity be wasted as he held her as intimately as he could, sheltering her from the rest of the world. 

“Juvia will try her best to stop. It just hurts knowing that they really weren’t there for you. How did Natsu get away with sickness from work if no one knows?”

“I told HR about it, but I told them not to disclose anything to my manager. They just put it down as like remote working. After all, I actually got this job through my masters, so there was a time where I was barely here anyway. I had loads of work to do, so uni let me finish all my exams this year.”

Juvia moved her face to look up at him. Even through her tears, she still looked so gorgeous. Her face was wet, but she looked like she was glowing.

“So Natsu even has his masters? Juvia doesn’t like this at all, she feels like she barely knows you. And then to know that you were dealing with this all by yourself.”

The tears started once more as she tried her best to wipe at her face. She swatted Natsu’s hands when he wanted to do it for her and she shook her head, turning away from him.

“Don’t mind Juvia. But the others were never suspicious?”

Natsu sighed and shook his head. “No, not really. I know Lyon knew something was going on. Every time we hung out, he would bring over something his mum made. And now that I think about it, something that you made too. He would never comment on my weight, but I know he was looking at how bad I was looking.”

Juvia sniffled and Natsu stroked her head, comforting her. She giggled a little bit through her tears. “It should be Juvia stroking Natsu’s head, not the other way round.”

Natsu laughed as they started walking. He held her hand in his as they made their way back home. Natsu felt good, like a weight had finally been lifted off of his shoulders. It felt good telling someone about what he was going through. To know that he would be missed by someone had he actually passed away. He never thought about how his friends and family would actually feel had someone eventually found him dead in his house. 

His throat tightened with guilt. They wouldn’t be able to forgive themselves, especially if they never got to say goodbye. Lyon would kick himself for not putting two and two together, Gray and Lucy would regret bailing on him every time he asked to hang out and his family would be in pieces.

He couldn’t help it as a sob ripped through him and his tears finally fell. Before he knew it, they were sitting on a bench, his head resting on Juvia’s chest as she cradled him close. His fists grabbed at her shirt as he couldn’t stop himself from balling his eyes out. 

“Just let it all out. Juvia is here.”

Her voice soothed him as he tried his best to calm down, but when he thought of how everyone would react to his death, he cried harder.

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Stop that, Natsu has nothing to be sorry for. It’s okay.  _ You’re  _ okay now. Just...let someone be there for you next time, okay? Let Juvia be there for you...”

He nodded his head as Juvia’s fingers raked through his hair. He didn’t care about who would see them right now. All he knew was that even if his world came crashing down around him, as long as he was in Juvia’s arms, everything would be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it for chapter 11! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Originally, I was going to use Hanami (Sakura viewing) instead of the peony viewing as it was also a real episode in Fairy Tail. However, because of the time of year that I set this fic, it wouldn't have made sense. So I did another one. In December, Japan have peony viewings as well. To be honest, they have a lot of flower viewings, but Hanami is the most popular. Hope you guys liked it!


	12. Chapter 12

Natsu had sent Juvia a wake up call at five thirty and she had answered as if she had been awake the whole time. He would have mentioned it, but he knew that Juvia was going to be putting on her best performance with her most said line for the day being ‘I’m fine.’ He didn’t know why he caved in telling her about his illness, but he also knew that it was wrong to keep hiding it from her. Not when she could sense that something was wrong with him. That and he really didn’t want her thinking that he still liked Lucy.

He stood outside of Juvia’s door, waiting for her to answer. He couldn’t ring the doorbell because apparently Meredy hated noise waking her up from her sleep and she wasn’t a morning person like the two of them were. 

Juvia opened the door and shut it behind her as it locked. She beamed up at him and he grinned down at her. It was rare that he had a friend who was an early bird like him. No one should have such energy at this time of the morning, but they both did. It was almost like they had taken something.

“Good morning Natsu!”

“Morning. You sleep well?”

He saw her hesitate and he knew she was going to lie, but she must have decided against it because soon enough, she was shaking her head. 

“Juvia slept, but she was definitely tossing and turning.”

“Juves-”

“Juvia knows. Natsu doesn’t want Juvia to worry, but she can’t help it. Juvia has a really vivid imagination and it runs wild a lot, so this is making Juvia feel even worse. It’s not really anxiety, just pessimistic stuff. Juvia couldn’t help but worry. Juvia is sorry.”

“No,  _ I’m  _ sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered ya with something like that.”

She glared up at him and this one wasn’t a playful glare. If looks could kill, he would be ten feet under right now with no hopes of getting back up. He shivered at the sight of it.

“Stop making it sound like it’s not a big deal when it is. Juvia is trying not to think about it for Natsu’s sake, but Natsu also shouldn’t downplay how serious his sickness was! Put yourself in Juvia’s shoes. If Juvia had cancer and she didn’t tell Natsu, would Natsu be happy?”

He grumbled when she said that before shaking his head. She gave him a look. “So why do you expect Juvia not to worry? It goes two ways. Leave Juvia and her worrying head, it’s okay. Anyway, Juvia was thinking that Natsu should come swimming with Juvia one day!”

He shot her a very quick nervous look. He hadn’t meant to give himself, but she knew that look from anywhere. Her eyes were filled with mirth. Natsu wanted to turn away in shame, but he was okay with it. Finally, a happy distraction. He would rather that she make fun of him than worry about him.

“Natsu can’t swim, can he?”

Okay, now he wasn’t so sure in letting her mock him. “Yo, keep your voice down Juves! It’s still early morning, people are sleeping.”

Her grin widening let him know that she wasn’t going to be stopping any time soon. “Forget them, we’re talking about this.”

“Nope, there’s nothing to talk about.”

He tried to walk ahead quickly, but Juvia easily matched his speed. He cursed her mentally in his head, blaming her stamina from all that swimming. Someone like Lucy would have easily been left in the dust with how fast he was walking. It scared him that Juvia was shorter than him, yet she was able to keep up with this pace.

“Oh it’s nothing to be ashamed of! Gray can’t swim either, so Juvia can teach you!”

That caught his attention. He had never thought about it. In fact, he didn't even know. “Wait, did you just say that Gray can’t swim?”

Juvia nodded. “Yes! Back when we were in second year, we went to a beach party and Gray only stayed in the shallow end of the water. When all the guys had a swimming race, Gray didn’t participate and you know how competitive he gets with  _ everything.  _ Juvia figured that he just couldn’t swim, but she knew that Gray would never admit that. Juvia asked Lyon-kun and he confirmed it for her. Lyon-kun can swim, but Gray never took swimming lessons seriously, so instead of wasting their money on him, his parents pulled him out of swimming lessons.”

Natsu wore a look of glee on his face. “Oh this is fucking RICH! Anything that bastard can and can’t do, I can do it! Look at me ice skating! I’m getting good now! And he can’t swim?! I’m definitely having lessons from you. At least I know that I’ll have a hot instructor.”

He shot her a wink and she just grinned while her cheeks grew hotter. Just seeing that reaction was enough to let him know that everything was going to be okay.

It wasn’t long until they finally got to the leisure centre. The lights were on and the car park was littered with a few cars. Where winter was slowly creeping up and the temperature was rapidly dropping day by day, only a handful of people made it to the centre at this time of day. It was too cold for anything else. 

When they got inside, there was a tired looking receptionist as she yawned. Juvia couldn’t help but be stunned at her beauty. She had long white hair and bright blue eyes. She seemed to perk up when she saw the two of them walk in, almost as if she were happy that she finally had some customers.

“Morning Natsu! And who’s this you’ve brought here today?”

“Morning Mira. This is Juvia. She’s a colleague of mine who’s recently moved to Magnolia. I didn’t know you were back in town.”

Mira smiled sweetly at Juvia and Juvia couldn’t help but return it. “Yep, came back a few days ago! Morning cutie! How do you like Magnolia Town so far?”

Juvia nodded slowly with a smile, as if she found it weird that she was being spoken to. “It’s really nice here! It’s really big, Juvia never expected it to be this full. It’s almost like its own city!”

Mira laughed and nodded. “That’s true, people don’t realise how big Magnolia actually is. So what can I do for you today?”

“Oh, Juvia is here for a swim.”

“Have you been here before?”

“Yes, a few times now.” Natsu watched as she paused before leaning forward and speaking quietly so that no one walking by would hear her speak. It made him raise an eyebrow.

“Juvia is really sorry, but are you Mira as in  _ the _ Mira-Jane Strauss?”

Mira grinned and nodded. Juvia gasped, her hands flying to her mouth when she realised that she was talking to a real life celebrity. She looked up at Natsu as if to say 'look at her' and Mira giggled. Natsu gave her a knowing nod to say that he already knows.

“Yup, that’s me!”

They both watched as Juvia looked around at the place. It was a very nice leisure centre, being rebuilt only two years ago. Still, it didn’t mean that she should be working in such a place as she is a model. “But what are you doing  _ here _ ?”

“I hate doing nothing. This was one of my first jobs I got I before I got scouted, so whenever I haven’t got anything lined up for a while, or I want a holiday, I come back here to work for a bit. I’ll be leaving after the Fantasia parade next weekend. That will be my celebrity show as I’m in the parade. It’s not like the people of Magnolia really care, this is my hometown after all.”

Juvia stared at her in awe and Mira winked. “But you are definitely a cutie! I think if you wanted to, you could become a model.”

Juvia blushed and wrapped a strand of hair around her finger. Natsu noticed that it was something she did whenever she got really shy. He didn’t know why she would feel shy when Mira was telling her the truth. Juvia was beautiful enough to become a model. He soon scowled when he realised what that meant.

_ “Not like I want her to be. I’m not having any man perv over her.” _

“Juvia would be too shy to become a model. It’s not the sort of thing for her.”

“Ah, that’s a shame, but I understand. So what activity would you like to do today? Use the gym or go swimming?”

“Juvia would love to go swimming please.”

“Okay. I guess I don’t need to tell you where to go if you’ve already been here before. Have fun and enjoy your session!”

Juvia nodded and smiled before she looked up at Natsu. “Juvia only swims for an hour, Juvia isn’t sure how long Natsu likes to spend in the gym, so Juvia guesses she’ll see you at the station?”

“I don’t spend too long either, an hour’s good with me. At this time, all the machines are free for me to do what I need to do and get outta here. I can wait for you, it’s no big deal.”

She nodded once more and waved them both off before heading down towards the swimming pool area. Natsu couldn’t help but watch as she left and Mira cleared her throat, making him jump. His cheeks were tinted pink as he scratched the back of his head at the fact that he had just been caught staring at Juvia.

“ Well judging by that look, I’m guessing there’s more to it than just colleagues, huh?”

Natsu found himself explaining himself to her. Mira was a model, a receptionist and a self proclaimed love expert. The thing is, her advice usually worked, so many people did end up coming to her for advice. Back in the school newspaper when they were younger, she was the agony aunt. He only knew that because Lisanna had told him.

“It sounds to me like you’ve got everything planned out. I don’t need to give you any advice, you’re on the right tracks with her. Good for you! I’m so happy to see you finally get the girl that you liked! I know it can’t have been easy seeing Gray and Lucy together, but I’m glad to see that you’ve moved on with a girl more suited for you.”

She ruffled his hair and he grinned at her, almost shyly. He saw Mira as a big sister. Having an older brother was great, but when your brother was just as clueless as you are and talking to your mum was the last thing you wanted to do, Mira was the best person to ask for advice.

“How’s Lisanna and Biscklow? They doing alright?”

Mira nodded. “Yep, they’re as right as rain. I still can’t believe the both of them just upped and moved to  _ Edolas. _ I wasn’t expecting that at all! Still, they’ve both managed to secure their dream jobs out there and they’re flourishing.”

“Yeah, well Lisanna always loved animals, so her being a vet out in Edolas isn’t surprising. What about Elfman?”

“Dating Evergreen! Yup, they finally couldn’t hide it from me any longer even though I called it ages ago that they would start dating. He’s doing well in sumo you know.”

Natsu’s eyes lit up. “Maybe he’ll let me and Juvia come to games for free?”

Mira gave him an amused look and shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe. It would be good for him to have support seeing as Lisanna no longer lives in the country and I’m jetting off all over the world. But Juvia likes sumo as well? You’ve done well here, finding yourself a girl who enjoys sumo with you.”

He nodded, feeling proud of himself. “I got her into it. We both love it and she’s even called it our  _ thing _ .” Mira squealed at that and Natsu continued. “Anyway, I should head on up. I’ll see you later.”

“See ya! And Natsu? Good luck on Saturday.”

Natsu nodded, extreme happiness rushing through him. The more he spoke about his plans to the other people around him, the more it gave him confidence to go through with his plan. This Saturday at the peony viewing, he was going to ask Juvia to be his girlfriend and no one was going to be able to stop him.

He made his way up the stairs towards the gym when he paused. He turned his head to the right and saw the door to the viewing gallery for the swimming pool. Usually, parents sat and watched their children having their swimming lessons there, so he knew that the view of the pool would be really good.

Before he could even think about it, he had already turned his body towards the door and pushed it open. He made his way to the ledge, his heart beating quickly. He really hoped that he didn’t come across as perverted for wanting to see her swim.

He saw her show up by the pool side and he felt his blood boiling beneath his skin. He felt so hot when he watched her. He now understood why the guys in her department were always praising her legs. He found his eyes widened when he saw that she had another tattoo around the lower half of her stomach. It swirled around her belly button in a way that looked like purple flames. 

He almost found himself drooling when she stood leaning on her back foot and she tied up her hair to put on a swimming hat. He growled when he saw a few of the early birds ogling her, but she didn’t seem to notice them. His fists clenched, almost rushing off of the ledge to poke out their eyes so that they could never look at her again.

She looked better than all the swimsuit models that him and his friends used to salivate over back when they were teenagers. Juvia’s skin was a lot paler than his, but he didn’t care. That seemed to make her glow radiantly in his eyes. Aside from her long legs and the swell of her breasts, Natsu couldn’t describe Juvia in another word other than beautiful. She looked like one of the greek goddesses that Reed used to paint.

“I have got to stop staring at her like this.”

He was finally able to back away from the gallery as he pulled the door open again. Not without turning back and watching Juvia dive into the water to start her lengths. He caught himself smiling dreamily. If all goes well, that alluring woman was going to be his girlfriend.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Natsu was extremely distracted. He didn’t know what it was, but Juvia looked and even smelt different. Her hair was bouncier than usual, smelled like white cashmere and the perfume that she wore was delectable as it overtook his senses. He wanted to do nothing more than wrap his arms around her and bury his face in the crook of her neck. The only time that he had been able to hug Juvia in an intimate way was when they were both emotional. He would like to experience it all without having to resort to that.

“Is Natsu okay? You seem a little distracted today.”

She was giving him a worried look, a look that he hated so much. She was much better with a smile on her face or better yet, a blush. He nodded his head. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it." She didn't look like she believed him and he rolled his eyes. "No seriously Juves, I’m good. I don’t feel sick or anything. I’m thinking about something else.”

The worried look melted off her face. He couldn’t lie to her and she probably knew that, which is why she believed that it wasn’t anything to do with his past sickness. After all, he promised her he wouldn’t leave her in the dark in terms of his health.

“Is it something that Juvia can help with?”

_ “I would love it if you could. Trust me.” _

“Nah, it’s cool.”

Juvia didn’t say anything and he knew that she was going to leave the situation alone, but he knew he made her feel bad. It was an insecurity of hers. She felt useless to people a lot of the time and he hated it when she thought that way. Instead, he inched his seat closer to hers and wrapped an arm around her. He heard her make a surprised noise and he decided to go the full way with the hug. Without their coats in the way, he could really feel her body against his. He held her tightly and he could smell her even more now. He took a subtle sniff of her perfume and almost sighed out in pure happiness. 

“You know what Juves, you just made me feel a whole lot better.”

She turned her head to face him and Natsu’s eyes widened at how close their faces were. Her lips were right there and he noticed things that he wouldn’t have ever noticed up close. Like even though she was pale, he could see very faint freckles on her face. Her lips, Kami her  _ lips _ . This girl was going to be the death of him.

“Juvia is glad that she could...”

They then turned away from each other and Natsu moved his arms back. He could feel himself heating up. He had never been in an awkward situation like that. This was the sort of thing that happened in movies! But to be able to be that close to her and she didn’t push him away, it had to mean something, right?

He soon heard Juvia speak and was grateful that their awkward moment had finally passed over. He didn’t want to sit here in silence with her.

“Juvia didn’t know that Natsu was friends with Mira-san.”

“Oh yeah, she’s like my older sister! Her younger sister is our age and she was my best friend before Gray was. We used to live on the same road and I was a bit of a cry baby when we were in nursery. Lisanna looked after me.”

Juvia’s eyes almost bulged out of her head, an amused look on her face. Natsu rolled his eyes, knowing what she was laughing about.

“Yeah, laugh it up, I was a crybaby. So sue me. I didn’t wanna be away from my mum.”

“That is  _ hilarious _ , because Juvia just can’t see it! So where is Lisanna? Juvia doesn’t think she’s ever met or heard of her.”

“She lives in Edolas with her boyfriend. Or fiance, whatever they are these days. She moved out there for uni and we all knew she wouldn’t come back. Their veterinary science is one of the best in the world, so it was a given that she would end up there. I guess she just set up her life there.”

He shrugged his shoulders as he spoke and Juvia nodded. “She sounds like she is your true best friend. Juvia always thought that it was Gray, but you sound more fond of Lisanna. Juvia would have loved to meet her.”

Natsu smiled at the thought of Lisanna. They were inseparable when they were children. Everyone around them thought that they would have ended up together in the future. It would have been cute, being each other’s childhood sweethearts and whatnot, but they just weren’t into each other like that. However, they did experiment together, doing all of their firsts with someone that they could trust and always rely on. It’s why they became friends with benefits.

“I know she would have liked you as well. Anyone who makes me happy is high up there on her list. That and you two are pretty similar, always going with the flow of anything crazy. We used to get in a lot of trouble together until we let Gray into our space. Then it was us three musketeers trying to run away from Erza.”

Juvia burst out laughing at the thought of it and Natsu’s grin was wide, watching her do so. Juvia was so unapologetically herself and he loved her even more for it. She never shied away, never hid herself and even when she blushed, she let people see her blush. She didn’t care for popularity and didn’t care what people whispered about her in the halls, even if it was something good like about how beautiful she is or something.

_ “This week is gonna be the longest week of my life.” _

~x~

Natsu got home and saw his older brother cooking. He grinned. Zeref had always been more domesticated than he was. Natsu had taken up the typical guy role of being useless in the kitchen. It’s not that he was useless, but more that when he was younger, he had pyromaniac tendencies because of the fire dragon in the Dragon Chronicles. Zeref looked up and smiled when he saw his younger brother.

“Yo. You alright?”

“Never better. Work was okay. Well, better than okay when I’m partnered with Juvia.”

Zeref smirked and Natsu couldn’t help but blush a little bit and decided to look at what he was cooking.

“Wendy already told me the truth between you and Juvia. She couldn’t keep her mouth shut because she’s upset that your relationship isn’t real. I too am a bit disappointed, but at that dinner yesterday, I couldn’t help but feel like it was  _ real. _ ”

Natsu sighed. He felt bad leaving his brother out of the loop, but he didn’t actually know he was coming back any time soon. If he did, he would have warned him about what he was doing, but he hadn’t been able to do that before his brother showed up as a surprise.

“And I wish it was too.” He moved to the sink to wash his hands. “I won’t lie. At first, she meant nothing to me. I mean, we were acquaintances, but I still liked Lucy. Kinda. I was in that phase of choosing to get over Lucy, but I still had feelings for her. D’you get me?”

Zeref nodded his head as he prepared to dish out their food. Natsu started setting up the table. He had come back late today. Him and Juvia still had a few things to sort out.

“Yeah, so obviously I lied to Gray and Luce when they asked me what I was doing one weekend-”

“You  _ LIED _ ?! And they fell for it?!”

Natsu knew that he was going to react like that and nodded his head.

“I know! I think because I was so mad, I got away with it. Anyway, I saw Juvia later that day and we’re both smoking and she’s the first girl to actually talk to me, like ask me how I’ve been without the end game being that she wants to get into my trousers for one night and then leave.”

Zeref was aware of his brother’s one night stands. He also knew that he was always left unsatisfied by them as well. Natsu wanted someone to love with his whole heart and he wanted them to be able to do the same. By the way things sounded and even looked, he might have found what he was looking for in Juvia.

“But Juvia and I have been hanging out every weekend since then and I didn’t think that I would fall for her because I thought that Luce was my type and they’re nothing alike, but holy SHIT, Juvia is so fucking beautiful and funny and she just  _ gets  _ me. That girl is as crazy as I am and even though she lets me get away with a lot of crap, she knows when it’s time to be sensible too and I really appreciate her for that. Plus, she cooks for me.”

Zeref burst out laughing when his brother was rambling and Natsu looked a little flustered when he realised that he had started rambling about Juvia.

“Bro, you’ve  _ definitely  _ got it bad for this girl! All I can say is that mum and dad adore her, the same way they adore Mavis. So what are you going to do about Juvia?”

They both sat down at the table and Natsu smirked. “I plan on asking her out this weekend. She’s taking me to the peony viewing festival in Oaktown this weekend and according to Gajeel, it’s really important to their family.”

His brother gave him an impressed look as they started eating. “It seems like you’ve got everything all planned out. With the way that she was looking at you as well, I would say that you’re in the clear. She definitely likes you as much as you like her. I'm glad that your relationship isn’t a full on scam. How the hell did she get an invite to the family dinner?”

Natsu rubbed the cheek where Juvia had kissed him and he grinned. She had even kissed him after the dinner, extremely close to his lips. He felt like melting. “Last weekend, we all went ice skating and then to dinner-”

“Fucking hell, I forgot that she’s even got you ice skating. I never thought I would have seen the day.”

Natsu shot him a glare for interrupting him and Zeref smiled cheekily, motioning for him to continue with his little story.

“She literally lives at the other end of the road, so I was dropping her off. I guess mum noticed my car and was wondering what I was doing without coming in. She saw Juvia giving me a kiss on the cheek before getting out of the car. Mum picked up on it and decided to invite her to dinner. You know I can’t say no to mum.”

“No one can,” Zeref sighed with a fond smile at the thought of their mother. “So the way you met, was that the truth or what?”

Natsu frowned and tried to recall what was said at the dinner. “What did we say?”

“You said you met through Gray. She went to uni with Gray and Lyon and was friends with them and when you, Gray and Erza met up to hang out, you invited Lucy and Jellal invited Juvia. I still don’t know how Jellal comes into the mix.”

Natsu nodded. “Yeah, that's all the truth. Jellal is Juvia’s cousin. At the time, Juvia used to like Gray and so Jellal invited her so that she could score some brownie points. Instead, Gray and Lucy hit it right off. I guess that was the start of a beautiful relationship.”

Natsu rolled his eyes as he sipped on his water. “But y’know what? That’s worked out in my favour! I definitely think Juvia is the one. More than Luce. Everything happens for a reason, right?”

“Right. I’m happy for you, bro. You also look like you’ve grown up a lot in the last two years. I’m really sorry that I haven’t been here for you and that my job has been keeping me away. Even Mavis is feeling a little left out. I know she doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t have to. Because of that, I’ve been looking for a new job.”

Natsu frowned and shook his head. “But this has always been your dream job! I thought you loved it? Don’t worry about me, I can’t always have you there anyway. One day I’ll get married and we’ll have our own families, I can’t always rely on you.”

“But for now, you don’t. I thought it was my dream job too, but my heart’s no longer in it. I don’t want to have to keep travelling around for months at a time and sleeping in hotel rooms instead of my own damn bed. The stress that this job gives me is ridiculous. I just wanna chill and relax, work close to home. I can’t be fucking almost 30 and I look like I’m about to pass 45. I need to slow down. Plus, I want to be there for you, Wendy, mum and dad and Mavis. There’s only so much time a girl can wait for you. I don’t want to give her false hopes that we’ll be together forever one day when I spend most of my time on the other side of the world without her by my side. Nah, I’m through with that.”

Natsu nodded, understanding it completely. He also felt really happy that his brother was telling him this. As much as he didn’t say it much, Natsu felt very lonely in the house. Without his brother here, the house felt too big. He would come home, heat up a ready made meal and then watch some TV or play some video games until it was time to go to bed. 

That’s why he was so grateful for Juvia’s presence in his life. For the last year, he thought he was going to lose his mind. He very nearly found himself moving back in with his family, but then his parents wouldn’t let him move back out if he were ever to be ready. As much as they were crazy, they were also worrywarts. Which is why he never told them about his illness in the first place. Now that he looked back at it, he was stupid for not telling them.

He heaved a sigh and Zeref looked up at him. He knew that sigh from anyway. “Is there something bugging you? You can tell me, y’know. I’m here to listen. I’m here now, and I’ll do my best to always be here.”

Natsu smiled, trying his best to make sure that no tears leaked out of his eyes. He was going to take Juvia’s advice. He had to let his brother know what was up with him.

“Yeah, I’m good  _ now. _ First of all though, tell me about what other jobs you’re looking for. I just don’t see you in an office like me.”

Zeref chuckled. “That’s odd, because I’m pretty sure it was you who said you wanted to become a sumo wrestler.”

“I WAS FIVE, DAMMIT!”

Zeref laughed again and Natsu shook his head in exasperation. He knew that Zeref was only entertaining him because he was stalling. It was a habit that he had had from when he was young. Even though he was a terrible liar and would eventually end up telling them the truth, he would take as much time as he needed before he would finally blurt out whatever was on his mind. To his family, it was also a way to let them know that whatever he was going to tell them was big news and that they needed to be ready to comfort him.

“Well, I’ve actually already handed in my one month’s notice. They’re giving me all the remaining annual leave that they owe me, which is why I have time to rest and relax. Then in January, after the Christmas holiday, I will become a professor. I’ll be the head of the physics department at our university.”

Natsu gave him a very impressed look. They had both gone to the same university, but obviously at different times. Zeref was a genius and that wasn’t self proclaimed. It was well known. He even achieved his PhD at the fine age of 26, which was why he could become the head of the department. Why he even went into international affairs in the first place did confuse anyone, but hey. The dude could do whatever he wanted with grades like that.

“Oh really? That’s amazing! I’m so happy for you!”

“Thanks bro. Now, I think you have something to tell me?”

And Natsu did. He told him about his illness and how he felt so alone. He told him that he didn’t hate him for doing what he needed to do and that he felt like shit when both of his friends would just continually blow him off to the point where he would stop asking them to hang out. How he thought to himself that he would end up dying alone in the house. Zeref wailed for his brother. He felt his heart almost rip in two when he heard the pain that his brother had gone through all alone.

“I remembered that Ignia has a holistic doctor. One that helps use natural medication instead of all this man made shit. That and she gives you advice on what you need to eat and change your lifestyle. Ignia doesn’t get sick and whenever he gets injured from work, that shit he uses works like a dream. I thought that maybe I should give it a go and maybe I ended up being okay because we found the cancer on time.”

Zeref glared through his tears and Natsu flinched. “You say she helped you change your lifestyle yet you never stopped smoking.”

Natsu gave his brother a guilty look as he tried to wipe his own tears. Seeing Zeref cry was one of the worst things he had ever witnessed, just like seeing Juvia cry for him. The more he thought about it, the more realised that it would be selfish if he passed on without anyone knowing why. He did have people who loved him and his family would be devastated.

“I tried in the beginning, but I fucking couldn’t. I needed something to help me cope. I know Porlyusica definitely hated me for it, but I was getting better regardless of it. The tumour is gone completely and I go back every three months for a check up. I asked Juvia for tips on how to quit smoking because I didn’t even know she smoked. It was working, but we went for at least one cigarette a day together. I told her about this last night and she’s making me quit completely. She’s also the reason that I have the balls to even tell you what I went through. I feel a lot lighter telling you and her. I thought people were bullshitting about actually talking to someone about something.”

Zeref wiped his tears completely and smiled at his brother, ruffling his hair. “Let me know whenever your check up appointment is. I want to be there at all times. I’m sure Juvia would want to be there too.”

Natsu opened his mouth to tell him that he wouldn’t need to do that and that he would be fine by himself. He quickly closed his mouth when he saw the look that Zeref was giving him. He just settled for a nod instead, smiling a little bit at the fact that his brother was always ready to drop whatever he was doing to make sure that he was okay. Not like he wanted him to pause his own life for him, but it always felt nice to know that he was important.

“But please don’t tell mum and dad. Or Wendy. I don’t want them worrying over me.”

Zeref gave him a conflicted look, but he nodded and sighed. The look that his younger brother was giving him was too much to say no to. “Fine, I won’t tell them anything. Eventually,  _ you  _ will. You can't leave them in the dark about this. I know you hate making people worried about you, but they're family and you know they will always be there for you.?

Natsu smiled gratefully before picking up the plates to wash. Zeref cooked and he washed, it was only fair. 

“Now, why don’t we go to the living room and defeat you in the new Dragon Chronicles game, Forces Unite?”

Zeref’s eyes flashed dangerously. “You, defeat me? Pft, I can’t wait to see you try!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was that chapter for all of ya? I hope you liked it! Trying to lighten the mood now after what I gave you in the last chapter haha. Hope to see you all in the next one!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I have finally caught up with my update schedule! I'm trying my best to make sure that I do update every Thursday, but AO3 is sooo annoying with the whole double spacing thing! Removing it manually takes so long, but I do it for you guys! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Juvia was going to kill her brother. It wasn’t even the brother that most people would think she would want to kill. No, Gajeel wasn’t going to be her victim, it was  _ Rogue.  _ The said brother was now trying to defend himself from his sister’s vicious attacks.

“Oi, don’t blame me! I  _ originally _ thought you guys were friends! Then I heard around town that you guys are dating, so I told mum and dad that I met your boyfriend. I didn’t realise that you had told them he was a  _ friend _ ! And besides, what kind of fucking game are you playing?!”

That was the hill he was going to die on and Juvia was going to be his executioner. It had been so long since anyone had seen Juvia rage like this. Being the middle child and the only girl, it had been hard to live with two brothers who did nothing but prank her and each other. How she never lost her voice with the amount of screaming she had done as a teenager was beyond her.

“Rogue shouldn’t have said anything! Also, who the hell listens to townsfolk over their own sibling?!”

Rogue rolled his eyes at how dramatic she was being and Juvia smacked the back of his at his blatant disrespect. He pouted and cupped the back of his head and Juvia rolled her eyes as he tried to give her the puppy dog look. That look never even worked, so she didn’t know why he was trying it right now. 

“Stop looking at Juvia like that. All Rogue has to do is apologise-”

“That you guys like messing about with people and that I’ve blown your cover to mum and dad? And here I was, thinking you’d outgrown your pranking phase. Nice to know you’ve still got it in ya, onee-chan.”

Juvia couldn’t help it as she grinned, almost forgetting that she was mad at him.

“It is a good one, isn’t it? We’re fooling everyone at work and stuff...BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT! Rogue-kun told our  _ parents _ ! You know what that means, right? They’re going to be soooo embarrassing! They’ll grill him at every chance they get, especially dad.”

Rogue hissed and grimaced. Their dad was extremely overprotective of Juvia, and the only reason he liked Lyon was because he was dating Meredy. All Rogue could do now was pray that Natsu was a strong enough man. “O-oh, sorry about that. If there was a way that I could make it up to you, you know I would. You’re my big sister, I wouldn’t want to disappoint you.”

Juvia gave him a sarcastic smile, almost as if she were grinning like a cheshire cat. “Juvia doesn’t doubt that one bit. But there is a way that Rogue-kun can make this all better. In fact, Juvia already took that matter into her own hands.”

They were sitting in a little tea shop having some bonding time. Juvia had promised her younger brother that she’ll take him to a few spots around town after she finished work and they had ended up going to a pop up art gallery. Rogue fell in love with it and Juvia was extremely happy that she had made her younger brother happy. She knew that university was stressing him out. Only for him to ruin her mood by telling Metalicana and Aquarius that Natsu is her boyfriend. She shouldn’t have bothered.

Rogue frowned before a look of fear passed over his face. Juvia chuckled darkly and Rogue was soon reminded that his sister really wasn’t someone to be crossed. Gajeel at least looked scary, so people stayed clear of him. They knew what to expect from him, but Juvia didn’t look like she could say boo to a goose. That’s what made her even more frightening. As much as she acted like her brothers ganged up on her at home, she ran that household. 

“What did you do?” He was worried now and Juvia was happy that she had gotten him into this state. That would teach him to go around and open his fat mouth about her fake relationship. He should have known that she would tell both him and Gajeel about any relationship of hers before she tells their parents. She hadn’t told him anything about Natsu ergo, there was nothing going on between them. Even if she wished that there was.

“Oh nothing. Why would Roguie think that Juvia did anything?”

“You just called me Roguie. That is the number one sign of mocking. You’ve done something to me.”

Juvia laughed at his paranoia, sipping on her earl grey tea. “Oh really? Juvia hadn’t noticed that that was something she did. Relax.”

Of course she knew it was something that she did. It was absolutely hilarious trying to see his mind running at 100 miles per hour, trying to guess what it was that she had done to try and ruin his life the same way he pretty much ruined hers. After a while, she gave him a clue.

“There was a beautiful girl that Juvia got talking to in the art museum. She said her name was Minerva. Came straight up to Juvia wondering who she was. Sounded like a jealous girlfriend. She was awfully surprised when Juvia said that she’s Rogue’s older sister and even had to show her ID. So imagine Juvia’s surprise when she hugged Juvia and said that you and her are  _ dating. _ Well, Juvia couldn’t help but invite her to the peony viewing!”

Juvia looked ecstatic and Rogue looked sick. He had tried so hard to hide his relationship with Minerva because he was scared.

“Please tell me you didn’t.”

“Juvia did.”

His red eyes bore into Juvia’s and she just blinked and tilted her head to the side with an innocent gaze. “What’s wrong? Why does Rogue-kun look scared? At least you guys are dating. Right? Or is Rogue-kun a hypocrite?”

Rogue sighed and Juvia blinked. Okay, this was definitely serious now. “Come on, tell Juvia,” she soothed. Rogue nodded and stared outside of the shop window that they were sitting right next to.

“You know what you feel like you’re gonna mess something up? I feel like my relationship with Minerva, it’s too good to be true. She’s the first girl I’ve ever liked and she actually likes me back? That’s crazy, Juvia-nee! I don’t deserve her half of the time, so I never told you guys about her, just in case I’m right and we break up.”

Juvia frowned. They may not share looks, but they definitely share insecurities. She had felt the same way when she had actually made friends of her own, instead of hanging out with the guys that hung out with Gajeel. She was always scared that they would see her as a weirdo and the gloom would eventually get to them, causing them to leave. Now she was flourishing and was even living with one of the said friends.

She shook her head and gave him a reassuring smile.

“And what if you’re wrong and don’t break up? Rogue-kun, you are perfect just the way you are and Juvia isn’t just saying that because she’s your older sister. Juvia is saying that because Minerva-chan clearly thinks the same thing about you. When we were talking, Minerva-chan was talking about all these wonderful things that Rogue-kun has done for her and how you’re always there for her. She says you’re a man of little words, but your actions speak the loudest and that’s what she loves the most about you.”

Juvia reached out to hold her brother’s hand and she watched as he sat up a lot straighter, his shoulders back instead of hunched forwards. His expression was light as his eyes widened with childish wonder.

“A-are you joking? Did she really say all that to you?!”

Juvia nodded her head with a grin. “The look that she was giving Juvia while talking about you, it can not be faked. That was true love there. Juvia wouldn’t lie or joke about that. It’s cute. Don’t think I wouldn’t beat up a girl for you or Gajeel-kun. Juvia is protective of you guys too.”

Rogue blushed as he looked down at his coffee. “I haven’t admitted that I love her yet...I felt like I don’t really know how I feel to be able to say that. But I would die for her, if that’s enough. Is that love?”

Juvia pulled back her hand to cover her mouth and giggle. Rogue gave her a distressed look, wondering if he had expressed too much of his feelings, but Juvia just shook her head.

“Juvia guesses she wasn’t joking when she said that Rogue-kun is a man of actions rather than words. Juvia thinks that that is more than enough to prove your feelings to her. How long have you guys been dating for?”

He hummed as his eyes went up to the ceiling, trying to think about how long it had actually been.

“Somewhere around 4 months I guess. I was dying to tell both you and Gajeel-nii, but I didn’t want to jinx anything. I didn’t know how to come out and say it. I guess I’m glad that we’ve spoken about it now. Thanks, Juvia-nee.”

“Oh, no problem! Juvia is always here for her baby brother.”

Rogue groaned and threw his head back. “I’m not a baby! Stop calling me that?”

“Rogue-kun will  _ always  _ be a baby! Now come on, it’s getting dark now. Rogue-kun needs to go home.”

“Oh, I told mum I’ll be spending the night at Gajeel’s place. They’re not expecting me back until some time tomorrow.”

Juvia’s eyes brightened as her scheming mind was back at work. Gajeel’s house was literally a road away from the tea shop that they were at now. 

“Is that so? Well then, Juvia will go with you and take you back to his place. We can have a siblings dinner together! Juvia knows how much you guys have missed her cooking, so Juvia will do it tonight for old time’s sake.”

Rogue nodded enthusiastically, loving the idea. Juvia took up cooking at 11 when she realised she was good at food tech in school. Their dad did the cooking as he enjoyed it a lot more than their mum and that became their father and daughter bonding time. Metalicana helped improve his daughter’s dishes bit by bit until she took over the kitchen completely. 

“Sounds like a plan to me. Also sounds like a scheme. You want Gajeel to drop you off home, don’t you?”

They stood up, waving to the people behind the till and Juvia smirked at her younger brother. “Juvia scratches his back, Gajeel-kun scratches Juvia’s back. Everybody wins.”

Rogue chuckled. “I missed you a lot, Juvia-nee.”

* * *

One more week. That’s all she had left with Natsu on their project. If you had told her about a month ago that her and Natsu would become not only great friends, but that she would catch feelings for him, she would have blinked at you and walked away, insinuating that you’re crazy.

But it was true. She had fallen for the pink haired - no -  _ salmon  _ haired man that is Natsu and had come to enjoy everything that he had to offer. She hoped that they wouldn’t stop being friends after the project ended, but she had no doubts in her mind that Natsu would stop hanging out with her. First of all, he had gotten used to her lunches, secondly, he loved the sales lounge.

_ “Juvia wonders if he also still hangs around because of Juvia and that’s just his excuse because he doesn’t want to admit that he likes Juvia? Ah, Juvia should stop jumping to conclusions, it didn’t get her anywhere the first time around.” _

“Juvia honey? Are you okay? You seem to be lost in thought.”

Juvia looked up to see her mother standing in the doorway with one hand on her hip. Her mother was the epitome of beauty. Her hair was a neon light blue colour that many people thought was fake, but it was indeed real. All her baby pictures had proved that, as well as her whole side of the family having that hair colour.

“Mum! Juvia is fine.”

Aquarius smirked. “Oh,  _ I  _ get it. You’re worried about us meeting your boyfriend. Don’t worry, as long as he treats you right and isn’t an idiot, you know I have no problems.”

Juvia smiled gratefully. It’s true though. Her mum hates idiots. She could even remember when she was younger and she used to meet up with Layla Heartfilia, she used to hold down her annoyance for Lucy. She found her stupid. 

“But mum isn’t the issue. It’s dad.”

Aquarius nodded and soon her dad was behind her. He had his hands on his wife’s hips and Aquarius leaned back into him. Gajeel and Rogue may not like it when they were love dovey like this, but Juvia liked seeing it. It set the bar for what she wanted in a relationship, and she could happily see herself doing this with Natsu.

“Hello Princess!”

Juvia grinned as she came forward and hugged her dad. He was an older version of Gajeel. Long jet black unruly hair with red eyes with stretched earlobes as well. His body was littered with tattoos, his newer ones being done by Gajeel himself. It was hard for many to see that they were a happy family and they weren’t actually delinquents. Still, Juvia wouldn’t have it any other way. This was her dad.

“Hey dad! How are you?”

“Y’know, living. I hear yer little boyfriend is coming out to meet us today. Do I have to put on that scary dad act? I mean, I’ll probably do it anyway. I ain’t having some fucking chump take away my lil Princess without a fight.”

He barked out a laugh and Aquarius rolled her eyes at her husband while giving Juvia a grin. “You have no idea how much your dad has been waiting for this day. He’s wanted to scare the living crap out of any guy who wants to date you for a long time. Hopefully this guy isn’t faint hearted.”

Juvia shook her head. Natsu was anything  _ but. _ That seemed to make Metalicana happy. “He better not be! No weakling will be dating my daughter!”

Aquarius smirked. “And what if that’s what she’s attracted to?”

Metalicana stared down at his wife. “Juvia’s a Redfox  _ and  _ a Lockser. There’s no way in  _ hell _ she could be attracted to someone weak!”

Juvia giggled and nodded her head. She hadn’t actually realised it, but the guys that she found attractive had been strong. She liked a man with muscles and Natsu was full of them. Maybe she did have a type after all.

Rogue jumped down the stairs and the three of them turned to look at him and their dad gave him a sly look. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t loverboy over here. I hear we’re meeting your girlfriend too.”

Rogue blushed and Juvia was grateful that all the attention was off of her. They were all getting ready to leave for the festival. Gajeel and Levy were going to meet them all there. They packed all the blankets that they will be using to sit around during the viewing. Juvia was excited and not just because it would be the first time in a while that her family would be doing something altogether, but also that Natsu was coming.

“Okay, let’s get going then. Rogue, are you driving yourself there?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Why would I wanna do that?”

Aquarius smacked his head and he flinched. “So that you can take Minerva home when you’re done! Gosh, did I  _ raise  _ you at all or not?! You will NOT be leaving that poor girl alone to defend herself!”

Rogue rolled his eyes. “She has drivers! They always end up doing it even when I want to.”

Both their parents gave him an excited look. “Oooh, you found a rich girl to date? That’s cute. What’s she like? Stuck up? Is she nice for a rich girl?”

They kept on yapping his ear off as he answered all of their questions and Juvia couldn’t help but smile before looking at her phone that had just pinged. Her eyes widened and she rushed her family into the car.

“Okay, everyone needs to go now, Natsu said he’s there already. Move, move, move!”

Metalicana gave his wife a feral grin. “Oh I can’t WAIT to meet this kid that Juvia on tenterhooks!” He rushed to the car alongside his daughter as they all hopped in. Rogue and Aquarius sighed but Juvia could tell her mum was excited as well. 

“I’m surprised that we’re even driving. Juvia thought that we couldn’t drive to any of the flower viewings anymore. It always gets really packed.”

“That would be the case normally, but your uncle Skiadrum extended his drive, so he can fit a lot more cars on the drive. We’re gonna park at his hour as it’s down the road from Oaktown plains. “Maybe you should give your lil boyfriend your uncle’s address so that he can park there too. Oh, but he’s already there. Musta got there early. Probably couldn’t  _ wait  _ to see ya.”

Juvia blushed, suddenly feeling jittery. If she was feeling this way, then she wondered how Natsu must be feeling. Maybe he wasn’t even nervous at all and he was just excited to meet them. That’s one thing she really liked about him. While she was prone to overthinking, Natsu was pretty chill and was more of a ‘go with the flow’ kind of guy, and that was despite him being a hot head who charged into every situation.

They finally got to the festival and Juvia had texted Natsu for his location. He was already there, waiting to meet them and Juvia could immediately see his pink hair standing out from the rest of the crowd. A huge grin immediately made its way onto her face as she ran ahead, calling out his name. He turned around, grinning right back and moved forward to hug her. 

“Juvia’s parents are right behind her,” she whispered softly into his ear. He stiffened for half a second before he then pulled back and looked at them. Juvia had told him already that Rogue blew their cover and told her parents that they were dating. He had laughed and told her that they were now in the long haul because both their parents now thought the same thing.

He noticed a man that really did look like Gajeel and Rogue, while there was a woman standing next to him who looked like Juvia. Only was it now that Juvia looked like she fit into the family. 

Natsu put his hand up and grinned at the approaching family. “Yo! It’s nice to meet you Mr and Mrs Redfox! My name is Natsu Dragneel.”

He held out his hand and for Metalicana to shake, which he did and it was a very tight grip. Natsu didn’t flinch as he looked into the man’s eyes. Juvia tried her best not to laugh and her dad smirked. He clearly liked him already.

“Nice ta meet ya, kid. Honestly, I can’t say I’ve heard much about ya, Juvia was keeping you as her nice dirty little secret.”

“Dad! It’s not like that.”

The man roared out with laughter and Aquarius elbowed him to the side before giving Natsu a hug. He couldn’t help but notice that she smelt the same as Juvia, but he liked the smell on Juvia a lot more.

“Please ignore my husband, he’s a nuisance at best. My name’s Aquarius. You seem like such a handsome young man! My, my Juvia, you’ve done well haven’t you?”

Juvia blushed and practically buried her head into Natsu’s arm as everyone snickered at her action. Natsu wrapped his arm around her waist and held her in tightly. Juvia almost combusted. It was still taking her some time to get used to the fact that Natsu was now wrapping an arm around her waist instead of her shoulders. That transition wasn't a smooth one and she was always finding herself blushing from how intimate they were.

His fingers rubbed her hip subtly and Juvia found herself sucking in a breath very quietly. Usually she would squirm at how ticklish something like that was making her, but she enjoyed the way it felt. He made her feel warm inside.

“Well, now I get to see where Juvia gets her beautiful looks from. I would have thought you were her older sister and not her mum. Nice to meet ya, Mrs Redfox.”

Aquarius grinned at him. “Oh and he’s charming too, huh? I definitely like you! You can stay.”

The patriarch of the Redfox family put his arm around his wife with a face like thunder and Natsu gulped, while Juvia chuckled under her breath at his reaction. She had to say that he was impressed that at least he didn’t outright  _ flinch _ . He had even withstood a handshake from her dad, even though she knew that it did hurt him a little bit.

“You hittin’ on my wife, son?”

“No, of course not sir. Not when I have Juvia here.”

They were really laying it on thick, it was going to get to the point where the both of them were probably going to forget that this was actually all fake. Having to plan a break up for both sets of parents in the future was going to be a headache.

The man just shook his head with a grin. “I like ya so far, son! And I just realised, did you just say yer last name is Dragneel? You related to Igneel by any chance?”

Natsu nodded his head in excitement. “Yeah, he’s my uncle! Dad’s older brother! You know my uncle?”

“I sure do, kid! He’s the best fire chief in town and I’m his trusted mechanic! He’s also my best friend from school. So  _ you’re  _ his well renowned hyperactive nephew, huh? To think we used to set up playdates between Juvia and Ignia. Wouldn’t have bothered if we knew she would grow up to meet ya.”

Okay, Juvia was going to have to put a stop to this now. “Daaaaad! Stop embarrassing Juvia!” They weren’t even play dates. It always ended with Juvia’s hair getting pulled and Gajeel and Ignia fighting. Oh Kami, that was Natsu’s  _ cousin _ ?! He’s 100% not invited to the wedding.

_ “Jumping the gun there, aren’t we? There’s no wedding.” _

Her dad’s grin widened. “C’mon Princess! Where’s the fun if I can’t embarrass any of ma kids? So Natsu, tell us about yourself? Rogue, get over here and message your girlie so that your mum has someone to terrorise as well!”

Juvia looked over at Natsu and he raised his thumb up at her. She smiled and nodded, knowing that he’ll be just fine. Soon, her dad threw an arm around his shoulder and pulled him towards a makeshift bar. Juvia could have screamed. Was he trying to get him  _ drunk _ ?!

“Erm, Juvia-san?”

Juvia turned around to see Minerva standing there and she grinned. “Minerva-chan! It’s so good to see you! Ano, Juvia’s dad just dragged Rogue-kun and Natsu into a bar. You’ll get to meet him later, but this here is our mum.”

Aquarius stepped forward and pulled the girl into a tight hug. Juvia felt sorry for the way she was squeezing the life out of the poor girl.

“Mum, Juvia thinks you should let her go now!”

_ “At least she’s stronger than Levy-chan. Juvia is pretty sure Levy-chan turned blue when mum hugged her the way she’s hugging Minerva-chan.” _

“OH! I’m so sorry! I’m just extremely excited to meet the girl that has stolen my baby’s heart! I’ll get to grill Natsu later, but let’s have a little girl’s session, shall we?”

Minerva nodded and Juvia grinned at her. “Juvia hopes that Minerva-chan is ready. Mum is a bit crazy.”

~x~

They found out that she was the only child of a business tycoon. Jiemma Orland was her father and both women’s jaws dropped. They were surprised that a person from such a high class family was dating someone from their own little tight knit family. 

She smiled a little before looking down shyly.

“Looking at your faces, I can tell that you guys are shocked. Everyone expects me to be this shallow rich girl who would go for some guy who also has a big business. People expect the typical story of me marrying some guy that would secure a business merger. As much as my dad is a scary guy and tries, no,  _ forces _ me to follow in his footsteps as a CEO, he wants what’s best for me when it comes to love. And I think...I  _ know  _ that I love Rogue. He doesn’t treat me like a CEO Princess, he treats me like a princess that he loves. I’ve never fallen for anyone this hard before. I’ve never actually fallen for anyone.”

Aquarius moved forward and stroked her hair in a motherly way. Minerva looked down at the floor, a blush on her cheeks. It was no secret that Jiemma’s wife had died at childbirth, so Minerva probably never felt someone mother her. Unless maybe by a nanny of something. Juvia’s heart went out to her, as did Aquarius’.

“And that’s all I care about. Rogue would never be the sort to go for a girl for her money. If he ever treats you badly, let me know. I’ll knock his jaw into next week. But the things that you’ve said, those are your true feelings. I also know that your mother passed while giving birth to you and your father never remarried, right? Well now you’ve got a mother  _ and  _ a sister. If you need any girly advice, Juvia and I have got your back.”

The dark haired girl brightened up as she looked at the both of them to see if they were telling her any lies. She smiled and nodded her head. “Thank you so much!”

_ “She’s definitely cute. I can see why Rogue-kun likes her. Good on them.” _

“Hey, Aqua?”

The three of them turned around to see the three men standing there. Metalicana grinned at his wife and beckoned her over, which she happily obliged with. “Why don’t we leave the kids to do what they wanna do, huh? Let’s all meet up at the usual place, Juvia, Rogue. Gajeel will join us then.”

They didn’t need to say anything else. Natsu grabbed Juvia’s wrist and shouted a quick see ya later and it looked like Rogue had done the same with Minerva. Juvia couldn’t help but giggle at Natsu’s antics as he then held her close. 

“Let’s go on a few rides then, shall we?! I saw that everything here is peony based. I also saw loads of game stalls that we should definitely play! How does that sound?”

“It sounds perfect,” she breathed out. Just as long as she got to spend as much time as she could with Natsu, then everything was okay. More than okay. It was perfect just like she had said. 

They decided to go on a few rides first, like the huge swings, roller coasters and then the merry go round. Even the tea cup ride that were shaped like peonies instead of tea cups. They were both laughing and smiling and falling around the place because of how dizzy they were. Juvia had suggested that they try it drunk, but Natsu was quick to remind her that he was driving home. She shook her head when he suggested that she could still drink. It was her rule. No drinking without him. That’s even if he  _ is  _ allowed to drink.

“When I was younger, I used to have motion sickness. I would never have been able to ride any of this shit if it had been back then. Even getting in the car was crazy.”

Juvia giggled, imagining a young Natsu throwing his guts up whenever he got out of a car. “Juvia is glad that you’ve outgrown that all now.”

“Yeah, same.” The way he was looking at her was so intense. She found herself drowning in his eyes and she was so captivated by how dark they were. She was falling into the abyss that was known as Natsu. She wanted to look away, but she also felt like he was sending her some sort of message.

His eyes quickly lit up as if he realised something. “Let’s go and play a few of the games! I’m gonna win you a stuffed toy!”

Juvia giggled and followed him. As much as it was cliched, she would love one. She hadn’t realised that she was holding her breath when he was looking at her and she finally sucked in enough oxygen to fill her lungs. Natsu really was going to be the death of her.

“Ano Natsu? Are you really going to do this? Everyone knows that these side stalls are rigged so that people never actually win anything. They’re just here to steal your money!”

He turned to look at her. “I wanna do this though! I’m gonna win you something! Or we could have a little friendly competition. Shoot all the bottles down sounds like a fun game.”

She matched his smirk as she grabbed the gun next to him. “Natsu knows that Juvia can never back down from a challenge. Okay, let’s do this!”

Juvia knew that she had awful aim, but she was willing to do it anyway. Anything that involved her and Natsu doing something together was worthwhile. She was actually surprised that she managed to knock down at least half of the bottles before she ran out of bullets. She grunted and turned to look at Natsu who was leaning on the side, staring at her with a wicked smirk. Her jaw dropped as she looked at his pile of bottles.

“WHAT?! Natsu shot all of them down?!”

“Yes ma’am! Not the fastest though, but he was still good enough. Still, no one can beat that green haired woman and her fella. They’re amazing and quick.”

“Oh you mean Bisca and Alzack? Yeah, they love this sort of stuff. But what prize do I get to pick up?”

The man pointed at his wall to the prizes that Natsu could pick from. “You can pick anything from here. Because you shot everything down, you can choose the expensive stuff on the wall and everything down here is a bit cheaper.”

Natsu hummed and he looked at Juvia, as if trying to gauge what she would like. He then grinned and pointed at one of the stuffed dragons in purple. “I want that purple dragon. It’s not too big, which is good.”

Juvia’s eyes widened when she noticed that he had requested for the dragon to be in purple. Everyone who knew Juvia knew that her favourite colour was blue. She did like purple as well and that was simply because of the meaning that it held. Even though it’s the last colour in the rainbow, one’s love doesn’t stop there. What was going on here? How would he know that? No, he didn’t know that, right?

“Here ya go!”

Natsu thanked the man before handing it to Juvia. They moved out of the way for another couple that had been standing patiently behind them. Juvia clutched the dragon gently as she smiled and stroked it, as if it were a cat.

“Thank you, Natsu. Juvia will cherish this.”

She looked down at her watch and started moving to the meeting point. “It’s almost time! Let’s head back to where Juvia’s parents are and-”

He held onto her hand quickly. “Juvia, before we go, we need to talk.”

Juvia blinked up at him as he looked nervous. Natsu had  _ never  _ looked nervous before, so she was wondering if he was okay. That phrase was always used when people were breaking up, and she wondered if that was what he was going to do. Maybe he wanted this fake dating thing to come to an end? Her heart was constricting in her chest. 

“Is Natsu breaking up with Juvia?” She joked. “Are we trying to conjure the perfect break up story?”

Her tone was jovial, but she was anything but. Her heart ached and she felt like she was being ripped apart. This hurt more than every time that Gray reduced her confessions to nothing. Why was she unlucky when it came to love? Why did she go for people who never like her the same way she likes them?

Natsu nodded slowly, as if trying to work out that that was what he was going to do. Juvia almost burst into tears there and then. So all this time, she had read it wrong. Natsu  _ didn’t  _ like her. Did he still like Lucy?

“Something like that. I’m sick and tired of living a lie now. At first it was fun to see how long we can go without others piecing shit together, or leading Fuckbuster and Luce on to believe that I was seeing some other girl, but I’m done with all that now.”

Juvia’s throat was clogging up. Despite the fact that they had been fake dating to everyone else, Juvia had felt like everything she portrayed was real. It was her real emotions, real words that she had said. Sometimes she even forgot that they weren’t a couple. It had happened all so smoothly. There was nothing awkward between them that she had come to believe the lie that they had formed around themselves. She laughed at herself mentally.

She found herself nodding and trying not to blink so that her tears wouldn’t roll down her face. Her eyes burned, but so did her heart. Why couldn’t he wait till after the viewing to say this? Her hand squeezed at the dragon plushie, tempted to throw it at him and run away.

She gave him a small smile and sighed. “Natsu is right. We’ve gone on lying for too long. It’s time to stop before someone gets hurt or we can’t continue.”

_ “Too late.” _

Natsu blew out some air before giving her a grateful smile. She found herself unable to fake one back. She almost flinched when Natsu took her hand gently into his and tugged her towards a stall selling flowers. Why was he torturing her this way? Was there already a girl that he liked and he invited her here? Was he going to give this girl the flowers? Did he really just see her as a best friend and he wanted her to know first?

He bought a bouquet of peonies before turning back to Juvia with a grin. “I’m so glad you see it that way. Because I’m ready for everything that we’ve faked, to become real.”

Juvia’s eyes widened hard as she stared at Natsu in complete and utter undiluted shock. The emotion that he had in his eyes was enough to tell Juvia that this wasn’t a lie or he wasn’t joking. His onyx orbs burned holes right into her azure eyes. His hand held onto hers tightly, not wanting to let her go and he watched her for a reaction. Juvia’s other hand squeezed the plushie even tighter. Was he being serious?

“What?” 

Her voice had been reduced to nothing but a mere whisper. There’s no way she heard that correctly. Natsu hadn’t just said that. This was definitely some sort of wet dream waiting to happen, right? Right after this, the whole festival will morph into Natsu’s bedroom, right? And then she was gonna wake up,  _ right _ ?!

The sound of the people around them was enough to alert her that this really was reality and not a dream. Natsu was really here, holding her hand and telling her that he wants to have a real relationship with her.

“You heard me Juves.” His voice was uncharacteristically low, sending a dark tingle of pleasure down Juvia’s spine. He stepped closer to her, so that there was barely a gap between then. His other hand had the peonies in them as he lifted them up. Juvia’s wide eyes took them in. He had clearly learnt the meaning of the flower. Her heart wasn’t beating the way it was supposed to right now and she could probably faint in his arms right now.

They had a few meanings, like romance, prosperity, happy marriage...But they could also represent bashfulness. Juvia looked back up as she saw Natsu staring at her, a huge blush on his face. It was cute.  _ He  _ was cute. He also wasn’t done talking.

“I’m done with us faking that we’re together. I want it to be real. I want us to be a real couple. Do you know how fucking beautiful you are? Do you even understand how I always have to stop and remind myself that even though we tell people we’re dating, we’re actually not? The amount of times I’ve wanted to hold you and kiss you? You drive me  _ insane  _ Juves. You’re all that’s on my mind, day and night and I hate the fact that our project is coming to an end because then I won’t get to see you all the time. I won you that purple dragon because I know what the colour purple means to you. I just wanna know...if you feel the same way?”

Juvia was speechless as she opened and closed her mouth like a fish, trying to find her voice again. It wasn’t coming back. Natsu chuckled as he wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her in fully. Now there was no space between them at all and Juvia’s face went bright red. If he wanted her to speak, he wasn’t helping!

“Unfortunately, I don’t speak fish. Throw me a bone here, Juves.”

She still didn’t know how to speak, so she decided to show him instead. Gajeel and Rogue weren’t the only ones who thought that actions speak louder than words. She tilted her head up, deciding not to give into her nerves. Natsu’s other hand rested on her hip as he brought her closer, their hips bumping against one another’s. Her breasts pushed up against his chest and Juvia could see the joy in his eyes. She almost rolled her eyes at how perverted he actually is.

Juvia smiled gently as she bit her lip, her own eyes on his. Did he think that he was the only one who wanted to kiss the other person? She wanted him as much as he wanted her too. “Natsu said he wants to kiss Juvia, right?”

She felt him shiver at the sound of her voice as he nodded almost desperately. Juvia would have laughed at how cute he was being, had she not felt the same desperation that he was exhibiting. Everything that they had done, the sexual tension that they had felt, it wasn’t all a part of her imagination. It was  _ real _ .

“So kiss Juvia,” she said, putting on her best sultry voice. 

Natsu didn’t need to be told twice. He practically bent her over backwards, their lips colliding with one another. The tingle that Juvia felt regularly when around Natsu was back in full force. She was weak to him, completely at his mercy. The butterflies in her stomach were pounding and bursting to get out. Juvia moved her arms so that they were around Natsu’s neck instead as she giggled into the kiss, still in disbelief. Here she was  _ kissing  _ Natsu for real. This wasn’t fake anymore, this was real. Him sucking on her bottom lip is real. His tongue lulling her into submission is real. 

“You’re so beautiful, Juves,” he mumbled across her lips.

Her heavy lidded eyes reopened, her face tinted pink. They pulled apart slightly, trying to catch their breath. “Natsu is just saying that.”

He laughed deeply, sending a wave of dark desire down her spine. “You’re right. I am just saying that, because you are. Man am I fucking glad that I didn’t read into this wrong.”

Juvia giggled, her heart still beating so fast. She felt like it was going to pop out of her chest at any given moment. She then tugged his hand as she couldn’t help but keep blushing like a schoolgirl. 

“Juvia was so scared that Natsu was calling this whole thing off because he liked another girl or something.”

He threw her a look that told her to stop being stupid. “Like another girl?! Ain’t no fucking way Juves, not when you’re the only girl I ever need.”

He offered her the bouquet and she blushed as she accepted them. She didn’t know what else to say to that. She also felt bad for not having anything to give to him. She hadn’t won anything at the stalls for him. He seemed to read her expression and grinned as the hand around her waist rubbed her hip gently.

“Don’t sweat it. That kiss was more than enough for me.

He wiggled his eyebrows at her and she spluttered before changing the subject. “Come on, let’s head over to where Juvia’s parents are so that we can watch the peonies light up!”

“Sure. Before your dad beats me up or something.”

Juvia was beaming, even more than when they had first arrived. She got back to her parents and Rogue was already sitting on a blanket, an arm around Minerva’s back. Gajeel and Levy had finally shown up and they were eating some candy floss together, meanwhile her parents were in the middle, with Aquarius using her husband’s legs as a pillow. They looked back up at the last couple to arrive and they shot their only daughter a smirk.

“You arrived with 30 seconds to spare, Princess. I hope you guys weren’t kissing behind some shady bins like your mother and I used to do.”

Juvia blushed and rolled her eyes at her dad and Natsu’s grin widened. “Nah, we were kissing out in the open for everyone to see, sir.”

Juvia's parents burst out laughing as Juvia hid her face from them. Gosh, this was so humiliating when they spoke about it so freely like that! “Call me Metalicana! All that sir shit makes me feel so old! Now sit down ‘n’ watch this bad boy light up.”

The moment their butts touched the blanket that was on the ground waiting for them was the same moment that the peonies all lit up, all in different colours. There were fireworks that shot up into the sky and Natsu gasped with everyone else, watching it all in awe. Juvia couldn’t help but find his awe so cute. People started clapping and they all followed suit.

“It’s beautiful, right?”

“Yeah it is,” he breathed out. He then turned his head to face her. “But not as beautiful as you.”

It was so cheesy, but that was the sort of thing that Juvia enjoyed hearing. She giggled at him and leaned her head on his shoulder, feeling the fatigue of the day. It was almost like Natsu could sense it too, because then he was asking her if she was okay.

“Juvia is fine. It’s the excitement of the whole day that has finished Juvia off. Juvia is both excited and happy. Happy that Natsu was able to come out here with Juvia as well as ask her to be his girlfriend. Juvia is tired in a satisfied way.”

Natsu hummed. “How much longer do you guys usually stay here?”

“Maybe for about 10-20 minutes? Everyone usually hangs out with the people they came with and then they go off and greet other people that they’ve seen around. Many of the people that Juvia went to school with might be around here, so sometimes Juvia says hi to them. Only if we were okay with each other of course.”

Her new boyfriend nodded and planted a soft kiss on her temple and Juvia’s cheeks warmed up, despite it being a cold day in December. She was in the arms of a guy who actually liked her back and wasn’t dating her just because he got dared to. He actually reciprocated her feelings and her heart was ready to burst just from thinking about it.

“Juvia wants to kiss Natsu-kun again,” she said without even thinking. When she realised what had slipped out of her mouth, her eyes widened as she quickly looked up at him to see his reaction.

Natsu smirked down at her, his eyes reflecting the same emotions as hers. There was love with a hint of lust in there. She should know because she felt the exact same way and she knew that she was definitely giving him bedroom eyes.

_ “Juvia’s never even given anyone bedroom eyes before, does she look weird doing it?” _

“Oh yeah? What, in front of your parents?” His voice had dropped a few octaves and Juvia was more than ready to drop her panties for him if he asked her to. Well, not in front of her parents of course, but she would be ready to do so. She squirmed a little bit as she looked past him to see if her parents would be watching. Their eyes were still on the fireworks as they spoke to one another. Perfect.

Juvia shrugged her shoulders and smiled. “They’re just going to have to live with it.”

“Fine by me,” he muttered as he lowered his head and their lips met. His arm around her waist tightened as he pulled her onto his lap in one swift movement. He pried her lips open with his tongue and she welcomed him. He deepened the kiss to explore deeper into her mouth. Juvia found one of her hands tangled in his hair and the other around his neck. She almost felt like she was ready to be engulfed.

This kiss was different from their first one. Their passion overflowed and Juvia could feel herself unraveling. Every emotion that she had to hide for the last few weeks all burst through the floodgates of overwhelming love that she had for this man.

Soon, they had to both stop so that they could breathe. That and they didn’t want to draw much attention to themselves in front of Juvia’s family. They pulled apart slowly and they stared at each other. Juvia felt Natsu’s hand rub gently on her hips as her breath hitched from his gentle touch. She was so weak for him.

“That’s never gonna get old.”

Juvia laughed and pecked his lips once more before looking at her family. They seemed to be doing the same thing, so Juvia winked at Natsu and slipped off of his lap. He yelped in surprise and disappointment, but Juvia put her finger to her lips and made him stand up so that she could fold their blanket. Natsu helped her, but he wore a confused expression on his face. Juvia placed the folded blankets next to her parents and shouted, “we’re going to go now!”

None of them even stopped to look at her and Juvia shrugged before grabbing her dragon plushie and reaching out for Natsu’s hand as he held it out for her. Their fingers intertwined with one another's and her cheeks glowed. In his other hand was her bouquet of flowers that he bought her.

“Juvia tried, but she’ll call them tomorrow morning.”

Natsu grinned. “I like the way you think. Now, d’you wanna come over to mine or d’you want me to get ya home?”

Juvia blushed as her mind went elsewhere. “Juvia thinks she should go home. Unless Natsu wants to come over and watch a film or something? The night is still young and Juvia won’t really fall asleep straight away...”

As much as she wanted it to come to something, she knew she wasn’t ready. Plus, she was tired and falling asleep to a movie was good enough for her. As much as she knew that there was something carnal between them, it was best to wait it out. There was no need to rush anything.

“Isn’t Meredy gonna be there?”

“Juvia knows they’re here too, but they usually go to Lyon-kun’s place after. We’ll have the whole place to ourselves, but DON’T try anything!” She had to make it clear for him now so that he wasn’t expecting anything.

She squeaked when Natsu’s strong arm wound themselves around her waist as he hugged her from behind. He rested his chin on her shoulder, his breath running over her ear gently.

“Don’t worry, I know how to control myself. I’ve been around you all this time, haven’t I? Why so jumpy?” Okay, so now he was messing with her as he lightly bit her ear.

“Because Juvia’s parents warned her about guys like Natsu. Juvia just had to make sure that Natsu got the memo.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes,” she hissed out as Natsu kissed her neck. Had Juvia not been a virgin, she probably would have jumped his bones, her exhaustion forgotten. Three weeks of them dancing around each other, she wasn’t sure if she should hold out or give into the sexual tension that had clearly been building up around them. But waiting would make it that much sweeter.

“Yeah well, my mum warned me about girls like you too. Girls who are like sirens and pull guys in, deeper and deeper until they drown in them. I think you’re a siren tryna drown me.”

Juvia found it hard to try and clench her legs together and walk at the same time. His low tone was sinfully sexy. She smirked when she realised what he had just said.

“Is Natsu complaining?”

“Nope.  _ Definitely  _ not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY got Natsu to ask out Juvia! I know loads of people have been waiting for this, I hope I did that scene justice! Thank you so much to everyone who has left a comment or kudos on this story! You guys are really the best, thank you all so much! Chapter 14 should definitely be out this Thursday!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Dark Gothic Lolita here!
> 
> I know, I'm late by a week and I apologise for that. First of all, life happened. Everything's been a mess and I'm trying to hold it all together. Secondly, I added this chapter in. This chapter didn't exist until last Wednesday. I keep doing this lmao. You all probably don't know, but I no longer release stories until the whole story is finished. Then stuff like this happens where I CHANGE everything that I've done as I start uploading. So yes, last week Thursday, this wasn't the original chapter 14. I turned it into chapter 15 instead and wrote this up. Plus, many people wanted to see Mavis in the story, so I had to write her in :D
> 
> ENJOY!

Natsu woke up on a sofa that was not his own. He stared up at the ceiling, blinking rapidly to get the sleep out of his eyes. A dopey smile decorated his lips as he was instantly reminded of the day before. How he had finally confessed to Juvia. How they had made out constantly instead of watching the film that was put on in front of them.

He looked down to see that Juvia had covered him with a blanket and when he sniffed it deeply, all he could smell was her. He released his breath, his happiness overtaking him. He actually did it. He actually confessed to her and  _ wasn’t  _ turned down! He couldn’t wait to let Lyon and Zeref know.

He sat up when he heard some noise coming from the kitchen and it sounded like Juvia was making breakfast. He smirked as he stood up to go and let her know that he was now awake. He glanced at the clock and noticed that it was only 7:30. That’s what happens when you’re an early bird.

He stepped into the doorway and stood there as he watched his new girlfriend hum along happily to the radio. There was a whole stack of pancakes on the table with bacon and eggs. His mouth watered at the sight of the food, but also at the sight of Juvia. She was wearing a baby blue satin night dress that hugged her curves in all the right places. He was reminded of the morning that he saw her in her bikini at the pool.

He gulped down his horniness and pushed himself off of the doorway before heading towards her body at the sink. He wrapped his arms around her and he felt her jump before she completely melted in his arms.

“Mornin’ Juves.”

“Good morning, Natsu. Did you sleep well?”

He hummed and kissed her cheek, watching as it went from cream to rose in a matter of seconds. He grinned at that before cocking his head to the side a little and clicking his neck. 

“I’ve slept on a fair share of sofas in my life, but yours has got to be the nicest by far.”

His heart soared when he heard her laugh and his arms held her tighter, never wanting to let her go. She rinsed off the pan that she used to make the pancakes and Natsu was more than content with watching her.

“Sorry, Juvia would have taken you to her bed and slept on the sofa herself, but being that tired and you being dead weight asleep was hard for Juvia. So she left you there instead.”

Natsu shrugged with a grin. “It doesn’t bother me, don’t worry. If I had woken up to find you on the sofa, I wouldn’t have been happy. At least lie in the bed with me.”

“N-Natsu’s mother said we shouldn’t!”

Natsu kissed behind her ear and smirked when he heard her sigh. “Oh please, you’re really gonna listen to her? Rules are made to be broken, Juves.”

“N-no they’re not,” she whispered. This girl was going to be the death of him, he could see it.

“You stuttered,” he said in a low tone. He had watched her reaction yesterday whenever he spoke with this voice and it was safe to say that he was going to be using it a lot. He liked it when she reacted like this, like putty in his hands. 

“Natsu should stop making Juvia feel flustered and let go. It’s time to eat.”

“Yeah, and I’m already holding my breakfast-”

“NATSUUUU!”

He cackled as he let her go and she dried the pan with a pout. He laughed even more before they both moved over to the table. Juvia brought some glasses with her and Natsu moved over to the fridge to get some juice. Having been to her house already, he knew where the things in the kitchen were, so he didn’t want her to have to get up for him to get things.

When he sat down and shoved a forkful of food into his mouth, he could just melt. Juvia then pushed a small jar towards him.

“This is Juvia’s hot sauce that she had. You know, the one with the salmon the other day? Juvia realised that she should probably put it in a jar so that you can use it any time you want.”

“You’re so cute.”

She hid her face from him as he grinned at her. It was also a bit hard for him to keep his eyes off of her chest. 

“So what do you wanna do later on?”

“Ano, on Sundays, Juvia and Meredy-chan have orders to fulfill. We’ll be busy making Christmas cakes and stuff for a whole load of people. Natsu can help out as well if he wants? But of course, Juvia can only start when Meredy-chan gets back because it’s a joint effort.”

“Yeah sure. I can be your batter tester.”

Natsu smiled when he heard Juvia’s twinkling laugh. He personally wanted to thank every guy that had ever met Juvia and never asked her out, just so that he could have her in his life instead. 

“Maybe  _ after  _ we’re finished. And Natsu might have to fight with Lyon-kun on that one.”

He held up his arm and flexed his muscles. “Is that supposed to be a challenge? Because I’ll win.” He felt his ego balloon when he saw the way Juvia was watching the way his biceps moved. Her eyes were clouded with lust and he felt a wave of relief wash over him when he realised that he wasn’t the only one to feel this way.

“Juvia doesn’t doubt that. But Juvia was thinking. Since we’ve got nothing but time this morning, we should have that swimming lesson! Juvia thinks it will be fun!”

Natsu felt the blood rush  _ away  _ from his face. Juvia tilted her head and he knew that he had gone pale. He felt a little clammy the more he thought about the pool. Just thinking about it was making him nauseous. He hated it.

“D-do we have to? I mean, it’s a Sunday. That means there’ll be more people there, right?”

His girlfriend shrugged as she sipped on her orange juice. “Juvia has never been there on a Sunday. Juvia knows that less people go swimming in the winter because they don’t want to be cold. Natsu shouldn’t be such a chicken, you need to learn. After breakfast, we can go.”

Natsu wasn’t going to go without a fight. “Well, I heard that you’re not really supposed to go swimming straight after eating, and we’re having breakfast right now so...”

He watched as he got an eye roll as a response. As much as he didn’t want to go swimming, he did like it when she rolled her eyes at him. He liked that feisty side of her.

“That’s a myth and take it from Juvia who used to swim competitively since she was a child. Besides, it’s not like you’ll be actually swimming, you still need to learn the basics. You’ll hardly be moving enough for this food to affect you.”

“But-”

“Natsu-sama.”

His eyes widened when she called him. His mouth snapped shut, the next excuse that he was trying to come up with died on his lips. He watched as she stood up and made her way around the table and towards him. He licked his lips, waiting to see what she would do. She didn’t even pause in her stride as she lifted her leg over his and straddled him, making his eyes pop out of his head. Her dress rode up, her thigh tattoo on for show, all for him. She placed a hand on his shoulder, and the other hand ran through his hair, trying to sort out his bed head.

“Natsu-sama should stop making up excuses, ne? Besides, Juvia knows that Natsu-sama wants to see her in a bikini again.”

The said man could feel himself sweating for many reasons really. First of all, was this the same shy Juvia that had just  _ straddled  _ him?! Not just that, but Juvia knew he was watching her that morning? But he didn’t see her look up at him, not even once!

“H-how did you know?”

She smiled at him as she traced over his tattoo that was peeking underneath his t-shirt sleeve on his bicep. She looked calm as she did so and Natsu let himself shiver at her touch. It felt refreshing and he started doing the same thing as her on her leg tattoo.

“Juvia saw you go back towards the gym when you were in the gallery. At the time, Juvia just thought you wanted to watch her swim, but now Juvia knows otherwise.”

Natsu could only laugh as he nodded his head. He moved some of her hair behind her ear as he rubbed his thumb on her cheek, before rubbing it on her bottom lip. “Fine, I guess it won’t hurt to learn how to swim. After all, I’ll learn to save my own life and be better than Gray while doing it. Like I said, at least I’ll have a hot instructor, right?”

Juvia giggled and nodded her head as he watched her get closer to him. “Don’t think that Natsu’s the only one who would be getting a nice view. Juvia can’t wait.”

He snickered as their lips were a mere breath away from each other’s, his obsidian eyes staring into her topaz blues. “If you wanted to see me undressed, there are other ways for that y’know?”

He could feel himself harden underneath her and he knew that she could feel it too, but she felt not to comment. Instead, her lips bumped against his and he encased his arms around her, pulling her into him. He heard her moan lightly as she parted her lips and he didn’t waste a moment of the opportunity. He felt her rock against him and it was his turn to moan.

“Juves, you’ve gotta stop doing that,” he stated through bated breath. He felt her grin across his lips before she pulled back and stood back up. He wanted to groan at the state that she had left him in, but he knew better than to mention it. 

“Well then, now that I’ve convinced you, let’s get going! Oh, Juvia should wash up though.”

He stopped and held her hand away from his plate and shook his head as he stood up. He picked up their empty plates and gave her a quick peck. 

“You cooked, I’ll clean. Lemme get this stuff washed and we can get going, sound good?”

“Sure. Juvia will leave out a spare toothbrush for you in the bathroom.”

Natsu nodded and couldn’t help himself as he tapped her butt when she was leaving the kitchen. Juvia turned around and gave him a cute pout before he could hear her running up the stairs. He chuckled to himself as he was clearing up for her. Best. Morning.  _ Ever. _

~x~

They had to buy swimming trunks at the leisure centre’s shop, because Natsu didn’t even own any that he could get from either his parent’s house, or from his. Juvia tutted at him. Natsu just scoffed.

“Don’t tut at me, I’ve got one now and I can start swimming. You sure you’re gonna be a good teacher though?”

She huffed at him. “Of course Juvia will! Juvia’s first part time job as a student was a swimming teacher! Of course Juvia’s mum helped her get the job, but Juvia has taught kids and adults. Besides, Juvia knows how she can motivate you.”

The smirk on her face really said it all and the bikini on her body was really letting him know. Juvia was going to use her own body to motivate him and honestly, he wasn’t complaining. Now, if only he could submerge his face so that he can hide the drool coming out of his mouth and pretend that it’s just water from the pool, that would be great.

True to Juvia’s word, not a lot of people were out and about. Luckily, it was really early on a Sunday morning and it was too cold for people to want to swim. They had the whole training pool to themselves, so the water wasn’t too deep for Natsu. 

“Okay. First of all, Natsu needs to come over to the wall here and get comfortable with floating first.”

Natsu gave her a look. “Y-you want me to start floating? But I’ll drown!”

Juvia crossed her arms under her chest, pushing her breasts upwards. Natsu’s attention would have focused solely on them, had it not been for the fear of drowning. He looked at the wall and then back at Juvia who wasn’t budging and he sighed before nodding. Juvia smiled at him as they walked towards the wall.

“Okay, so if Natsu holds onto the wall with both hands and then just let your legs float out behind you. Like this. Watch Juvia.”

She gave him an example of how she wanted him to float and he almost scoffed at how easy it looked. He didn’t know if she was mocking him by taking it easy or what, but he found himself almost choking on the water when he tried. He gasped and let go of the wall and was then convinced he was drowning.

“Natsu! Just put your feet down!”

His face almost burned when he remembered that he was only in the training pool that even kids as young as three swam in. He was grateful that so far, they were the only people in the pool. He glared down at the water as if it was the water's fault that he was in that position in the first place. 

“Don’t do it too quickly, Natsu. Just let your body flow behind you naturally. Juvia knows you can do it, stop glaring at the water and do it. You look so cute.”

“It’s not cute to almost drown!”

Juvia waved her hand with a laugh. “So dramatic. Juvia wouldn’t let Natsu drown, not when she’s right here. And besides, your ghost will not live it down if Juvia has to tell everyone you died in a kiddie pool.”

Natsu grumbled about how she wasn’t funny, but reset himself up again. He held onto the wall as he was ready to try again. He not only wanted to impress Juvia, but it really was high time he learned how to swim.

His legs floated out behind him and he felt the panic build up within him again. This wasn't a natural position in water, was it? He was about to let go of the wall again when he heard his girlfriend clap.

"That's it! Stay in that position and get a feel of the water around you! This is perfect! Realise that the water won't let you drown. If you stay calm at all times, it can even save you if something bad  _ did  _ happen. Just like that."

Natsu felt like a dog getting such positive reinforcement like this. But it did make him feel good. At least he felt like he was doing something right and that's all that mattered.

He looked down at himself when he realised that he really was holding himself up. He was amazed that he wasn't even sinking! He quickly stood back, making Juvia jump a little bit. 

"Is Natsu okay?"

"Okay?! I'm more than okay right now! My body was holding me up! I wasn't sinking! That's so  _ cool _ !"

Natsu knew he sounded childish right now, but he didn't even care. He knew Juvia definitely didn't care either. She just nodded at him with a beaming smile.

"Yes! Now, Natsu has to try it on his back and without holding onto the wall. Don't look like that, Juvia knows you can do it. Trust Juvia."

There was a mixed reaction rushing through him. He didn't know if he was ready to try something so daring or if it was the fact that he was excited to try something so daring.  _ "Let's go with excitement. Juvia won't let me drown anyway. Hopefully." _

He nodded and crouched down in the water before letting himself fall back gently. He felt Juvia's hand cup the back of his head, just in case he felt a little shaky, which he was grateful for. It was different from when he was on his front. Because at least then, his arms and head weren't in the water. This time, he was lying in it as if it were a bed.

"Just like that Natsu, just like that."

Natsu looked up and almost felt himself jolt when he realised that his head was directly under his girlfriend's heavy chest. They bounced with every slight movement she made and they glistened from the water. He felt himself gulp when he realised he was right underneath heaven.

_ "It doesn't even help when she's saying shit like 'just like that Natsu.' Fuck, this girl is gonna make my balls bluer than her hair if she ain't careful." _

"Natsu? Did you hear what I just said?"

He shook his head and moved his eyes to meet hers. He blushed in embarrassment from being caught and even Juvia seemed to have a blush on her face. She must have realised that he was busy staring at her boobs that she had placed right over him.

"Ano, Juvia is so sorry!"

Natsu chuckled as he shook his head and tried to stand back up. He placed his feet on the floor and encircled his arms around his beautiful girlfriend. He drew her closer to him, her breasts squishing up on his bare chest. Her blush deepened as he left butterfly kisses on her neck.

"Sorry? Why would you need to be sorry when I'm clearly enjoying myself?"

"Natsu," she almost whimpered, which in turn made him groan a little bit.

"Excuse me, but this is a public area and you're in the kid's pool! Find a hotel for that," a woman's voice hissed out to them. They jumped apart as they turned to face the angry looking woman. Natsu rubbed his neck with a huge grin on his face. 

"Sorry ma'am, it's completely my fault."

"Humph."

She walked past them with her children, aiming to get as far away from them as possible, mumbling about how there might be some jizz in the pool. Natsu looked down and saw that Juvia looked absolutely mortified and to be honest, he didn't blame her.

"Hey Juves, it's all good! C'mon, I know you got more to teach me!"

"O-okay. Well now, Natsu needs to go under the water and exhale."

He frowned and paused. Maybe he didn’t hear her correctly. "You want me to  _ what _ ?"

"Go under the water and exhale. Blow out bubbles from your nose. It helps you gain confidence with your face touching water and basically being underneath the surface. Stop looking at Juvia like that and just do it. Make sure you don't breathe in though. How about we do it together then?"

"That sounds better. Let's do that."

Juvia nodded and grabbed both of his hands. "On Juvia's count, we go under the water and exhale, okay? We've got goggles on so you should be able to see me.”

By the time they were done, Natsu actually found himself tired. He felt like he had done more work in the pool than he had ever put into the gym and that shocked him as well as made him think that maybe he needed to up his weights and reps. How could learning to swim be more tiring than deadlifts?

“Natsu did really well today! If we continue to come swimming, that will be something else that you’ve learned! And besides, you’re already way better than Gray will ever be.”

That was more than enough positive reinforcement for Natsu as he grinned at his girlfriend. Anything that made him better than Gray was more than enough of a reason to continue. “Of course I’m better than Fuckbuster-OW!”

“Natsu, you need to watch your mouth! There are still a few kids here after all.”

All he did was laugh in response, but otherwise did stop swearing. He could have sworn that he saw the woman that scolded them when they were in the pool glare at him when he swore. Why was she everywhere that they were?!  _ “She’s so fucking bitter, what’s her problem?” _

“Juvia’s going to get changed in here. Should we meet out at reception?”

Natsu looked up to see Juvia pointing at an empty cubicle and smirked. “What are you talking about? I’m changing with you, of course. Might as well free up other cubicles for people who really need it, right?”

Just like clockwork, he watched as her face sparked up. She held her towel and bag a little closer to her body and Natsu’s grin widened at her reaction. That was never going to get old. He used to have to take pride in doing that to her in his head, but now he was able to intensify his teasing.

“N-Natsu! Stop saying perverted things like that!”

He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in close. Making sure that the woman who was getting on his nerves wasn’t about, he kissed her cheek and moved up to her ear. 

“Why would I when I’ve got you clenching your legs?”

He felt her shiver under his touch before she finally pushed him away from her. Natsu couldn’t help himself as he burst out laughing and moved away from her. He felt his heart skip a beat as she pouted at him.

“That’s not funny! Now go, Juvia will meet you out at the reception!”

With that, she slammed the cubicle door in his face. Natsu just snickered and went to find an empty one. His grin never left his face as he thought about his bikini wearing girlfriend.

* * *

“If I get showered and stuff, I can take you back to yours and then we can start baking, right?”

“That sounds good to Juvia. Ano-”

“Natsu? Is that you? Do I hear a girl with you?”

The couple turned around at the sound of a woman’s voice and they watched a blonde with extremely long hair walk into the living room. She was rubbing at her eyes as she yawned widely. She was just a little taller than Levy, but not by much at all. Juvia’s eyes widened with excitement.

“Oh Mavis, mornin’.”

The blonde groaned. “What is up with you Dragneels and waking up early even on a  _ Sunday _ ?” She complained. 

“That’s just how we are haha. Anyway, meet my girlfriend-”

“JUVIA?! It’s been so long! How are you?!”

Juvia herself grinned as the two girls practically pushed Natsu out of the way and were hugging each other. He grumbled to himself about strong women and straightened himself out as he pointed at the two of them.

“You guys know each other?”

“Of course! Zera-chan is my best friend who works in Gajeel’s shop! That and I’m Lucy’s cousin on her mother’s side, so with Juvia’s mum being best friends with Lucy’ mums, we ended up hanging out quite a bit when we were younger. Zera would also drag me to babysit them as well.”

Natsu could feel himself about to pass away when one thing that she said stuck out to him. “Y-you’re Luce’s cousin? Er...” How the  _ hell  _ did he not know that?!

He thought back to all the times he had asked Zeref and Mavis for their help on asking out this girl that he really liked, and thinking that they wouldn’t know her, he just name dropped her. Luckily he called her Luce and not Lucy, otherwise the link would have been made quickly.

Mavis’ eyes widened in sudden realisation. She clearly never made the link, which was good for Natsu. “Wait, Lucy was ‘Luce’ all along?! Why didn’t you  _ say  _ anything?! How did  _ I  _ miss that?! Ugh, well, that’s all in the past now! So you and Juvia huh? Zeref told me about how you guys were faking your relationship, but you  _ really  _ wanted it to be real. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

She wiggled her eyebrows at the both of them and Natsu felt his skin prickle with blood rushing to the surface. Juvia looked the same as him as well. Mavis couldn’t help but cackle at the look on their faces.

“I’m just messing with you guys! But I guess I should leave you two.”

“No, it’s fine. I was just gonna shower and drop Juvia off at her place. We’re gonna do some baking at hers.”

“Oh? Where were you then? I didn’t even see you last night when I came in. Wait, I think Zeref said you were at the Peony viewing in Oaktown?”

“Yeah, I took Juvia there and then crashed on her sofa. We went swimming this morning. Juvia was teaching me how to swim.”

He wrapped an arm around the said girl who grinned up at him and nodded at Mavis. “It’s true. Juvia thinks that it’s a very important life skill to have and of course to motivate him, Juvia told him that Gray can’t swim either.”

Mavis smiled. “So you guys rushed straight to the pool after you said that, right?”

“It took Juvia some time to convince him to even get into the water, but it was plain sailing from there. Natsu is a quick learner, even from when Juvia taught him how to ice skate.”

Mavis gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. “Oh YES! I heard from Zeref that you got him to ice skate! You guys are just so cute!”

She reached up and pinched both of their cheeks, with Natsu swatting her hand away and his girlfriend giggled at her. 

“Well, Zeref just went to go and get a few things from the shop, so he won’t be too long. But you should go and shower, Natsu. I want to catch up with Juvia!”

Natsu opened his mouth to say something, but he closed it with the shake of his head. He wasn’t even going to ask about what she wanted to talk about. That was strictly girl gossip, and he had no care for it. Unless he was involved. He shrugged and gave Juvia a grin before heading up the stairs.

Mavis dragged Juvia to the kitchen so that they could talk. “So it’s official now? This is no longer a joke?”

Juvia nodded with a light blush on her face. Her hair was still quite wet from swimming and it was up in a bun, so she couldn’t twirl her hair around her finger like she always does whenever she gets shy.

“Well, it wasn’t really a joke in the first place. Natsu just said he was going on a date to Gray and Lucy, when really it was just a lie to make himself feel better. He then asked Juvia out because of his poor lying skills, but to us, we were just hanging out. He showed Juvia around Magnolia too. Juvia thinks that maybe we let it get out of hand when people were asking if we’re dating and we said yes. It was all a bit of fun, we weren’t taking anything seriously. But then Juvia guesses that our feelings started getting serious. Only people like Meredy-chan and Lyon-kun knew about us not dating. They know we’re dating for real now though.”

Mavis was making the pair of them tea as she nodded her head and glanced at the younger woman. “Last time I checked, Natsu had a huge crush on Lucy. I say crush, but I think it was love.”

Juvia nodded as she sighed. It seemed like almost a lifetime ago that she was helping Natsu get over Lucy. “Yes, the same way that Juvia once had feelings for Gray. Juvia and Natsu were the same. We tried our hardest to always be there for them. Juvia did all she could to cater to Gray and from the sounds of things, Natsu did the same for Lucy. Lucy actually told Juvia that she knew of Natsu’s crush on her.”

Mavis looked surprised as she sipped in her tea. She then furrowed her eyebrows as if she had remembered something and it didn’t seem to add up. “She did? Why did she never tell him anything then? Does she know how insecure she made him feel? When Zeref was away, Natsu would sometimes drunkenly call me and ask if he was an okay guy or if there was anything wrong with him. Of course, I didn’t realise it was my own cousin that he had his eyes on. That’s so embarrassing. Why didn’t she at least turn him down?”

“She said that because Natsu never asked her, she never turned him down. She didn’t want to be rude and one day tell him that it was never going to work out because she saw him as a brother when he hadn’t even expressed his feelings. She was hoping that they would just fade away.”

Mavis heaved a huge sigh as she shook her head. “Yet she would complain that no guy likes her or anything.”

Now it was Juvia’s turn to frown. Juvia knew for a fact that Lucy was every guy’s wet dream. Either she was really humble or she liked to pretend that she didn’t know that guys really did want her. Maybe it was former, Lucy wasn’t all that shallow.

“But I’m glad you’re the one to end up with Natsu.”

Juvia glanced up from her tea and looked at Mavis who was giving her a calming smile. That made Juvia blush and smile shyly in return. 

“Really?”

“Really! You guys are the different, but similar. It’s really cute to see two people who had previously gone over and beyond for the people that they had once loved to come together and get the same energy back. Besides, Gray was never good for you. You need someone who is proud to love you in front of everyone without ever hiding anything.”

She seemed to get that a lot. Meredy had once said the same thing and she guessed that it was true then. Why should she be ashamed to show off who she loved? And Natsu being into PDA as much as her was perfect.

They heard the front door open and when they looked through the kitchen door, the two women could see Zeref taking off his shoes. 

“Mavis? Natsu?”

“In the kitchen, and in the shower. I’ve got Juvia in the kitchen here with me.”

The said man looked up with a small smile on his face. He waved as he made his way into the kitchen with a few grocery bags. 

“Morning Juvia.”

“Good morning, Zeref.”

He smirked at her. “So did my brother actually grow the balls to ask you out for real? I noticed that his car wasn’t out front this morning when I went shopping, but now it’s here and so are you. I can only guess that things worked out last night, right?”

Juvia’s face was on fire as she sat up straight with a nod. “Y-yes, Juvia and Natsu are dating for real this time around.”

Mavis hit her boyfriend’s arm as she scolded him lightly. “Stop teasing the poor girl! Can’t you see that she’s about to faint from lack of blood?! It’s all rushing to her head right now! Ignore him, Juvia-chan. He’s just feeling playful and Natsu is having a shower, so he can’t direct it to him right now.”

Zeref laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “Just needed to make sure. Natsu was practically losing sleep in trying to find the courage to ask you out, I just needed to see if he really did follow through or chicken out.”

Juvia smiled at the thought of Natsu badgering his brother, trying to find a good way to ask her out. That was so cute of him. Everything about Natsu was either insanely cute, or extremely hot. There was no in between.

“Natsu definitely didn’t chicken out. We just got back from a swimming lesson as well.”

The look on Zeref’s face was priceless as he looked like he couldn’t believe it. “Wait, my  _ brother _ got into a swimming pool?  _ Natsu _ ? Natsu Dragneel? Got into a  _ pool _ ?”

Juvia nodded her head, proud of being able to do something that clearly no one had been able to do before. It was just like when she got him to ice skate all over again and Wendy could show nothing but shock.

“Zeref-kun should see Juvia-chan’s body. Then you’ll understand why your brother probably went along with it.”

Juvia’s face went bright red as she turned her head quickly to face Mavis. “Mavis-chan, don’t  _ say  _ that!”

The blonde did nothing but laugh. Juvia had been told many times that she was funny when it came to her body. Regularly, she wouldn’t dare wear anything revealing, it just wasn’t her thing. That’s why she admired girls like Lucy and Ultear as they were confident with themselves. Juvia herself wasn’t. Well, that was until she got to the pool. Throw Juvia into any situation involving water and she’ll throw all her cares away. She didn’t mind being seen in a bikini, she loved it. She wanted to feel as much water on her skin as possible. 

Juvia put her face in her hands as the other couple were laughing. She looked through her fingers when Zeref called out to her. Mavis sipped on her tea.

“But seriously, thank you. Natsu told me...about the hard time he went through and he said you were the one to convince him to tell me. Thank you. This isn’t even about being the sort of girlfriend that he needs, but also the sort of friend that he’s needed. I hope that you guys stay good to each other.”

Juvia grinned and nodded her head as Mavis beamed at her as well. “Thank you. Juvia hopes that we do too.”

~x~

The moment Juvia and Natsu got back to Juvia’s, Meredy was waiting for them at the front door and she latched straight onto Juvia’s arm the moment she opened the door. Juvia had yelped at the way she was being dragged across the house.

“Wait, Meredy-chan! Juvia needs a shower, she still smells like chlorine!”

That didn’t stop the pink haired woman as she dragged her best friend up the stairs instead and Natsu could just snicker at his girlfriend’s predicament. 

“Lyon-kun, you can set up with Natsu!”

“Sure thing babe! C’mon, let’s get their stuff ready while they gossip. I’m guessing you finally put your back into it, huh?”

Natsu grinned in a way that could only mean yes. They started bringing out the scales, the flour and every other ingredient and equipment that the girls would need to start baking with.

“Yep, I did. I did it at the peony viewing last night. I must admit, I don’t think the way I worded it was great, because Juvia told me she thought I was putting an end to our little charade for good. As if!”

Lyon chuckled. “Meredy was thinking of trying to find you guys and spy on you last night. I had to make sure she didn’t try to do that. Not especially when you had gone to meet her parents as well. You owe me, by the way. Trying to hold Meredy back is like trying to hold a bulldozer.”

Natsu rolled his eyes with a grin on his face. “Yeah, sure.”

“So, are you gonna tell Gray and Lucy?”

Lyon popped some chocolate that he had found, clearly labelled ‘Meredy’ on the front. Natsu didn’t know how Meredy was with her snacks, but the fact that she had labelled it and Lyon was now munching on it, he could tell that it wasn’t going to go down well.

But he thought about the question a bit more. On paper, Gray was Natsu’s best friend and not Lyon. In actuality, it was probably Lyon now and Natsu knew that Lyon knew that. This whole time, at least he had been more understanding about the whole situation. Hell, he was in on it the whole time!

“Of course I’m gonna let them know, but maybe...Not yet.” He shrugged carelessly as Lyon gave him a look before shrugging his own shoulders. He didn’t blame him. Gray even ditched him too and they were freaking twins. He got used to the city life and made all his friends there. He didn’t come home regularly either.

“You got beef with ‘em or something?”

Natsu sighed and ruffled his hair. He had been trying to put what Juvia said into practice. It wasn’t fair that he was holding a grudge on them and he was trying his best to let it go. It was working a little bit. He just had to remember that it wasn’t their fault that he never told them anything, the same way that he didn’t tell Lyon anything.

“Nah, I haven’t. I’m just salty over some small thing that happened I guess. I’ll let you know later, I don’t wanna say it with the girls around, even though Juvia already knows.”

“Does it have anything to do with the last year? Cos I’m not stupid y’know. Why do you think I made myself readily available? I know how much you hate speaking about things, so I never asked, but I pieced everything together. Whatever your reason was for not telling me, I don’t care. All that matters is that you’re better now.”

Natsu blinked and looked down in shame. So it was obvious to him. Lyon knew and never said anything. He didn’t want to shame Natsu and that made Natsu feel even more guilty. He didn’t know why he didn’t think Lyon would piece things together when he’s one of his smartest friends.

“I’m much better, thanks. Really, I appreciate your help.”

They both fist bumped and Natsu still had to answer the original question.

“But no, I don’t have beef with them. I just kinda wanna teach them a lesson in being nosy. That and they don’t think that Juvia and I are compatible.”

Lyon looked confused. “They  _ don’t _ ? I thought you guys got super close at work and stuff? Shouldn’t that have been a clue?”

Natsu laughed. “Well, I didn’t help the situation. Luce said that if I wasn’t dating some girl already, she might have thought of putting Juvia and I together. I’m just surprised that they haven’t pieced it together themselves.”

“Oh I get it, you guys are so close at work that you’re sure you’ve slipped up a few times and people should have caught you together?”

He nodded in exasperation. “Sometimes, I swear I couldn’t keep my hands off her.”

Lyon gave him a look that read ‘too much information,’ but Natsu was all smiles. Natsu then pointed at the bag of chocolates.

“You’ve eaten a lot of that. Is Meredy not gonna kill you?”

Lyon frowned before looking down. His eyes widened comically when he noticed that he had actually finished his girlfriend’s entire chocolate stash. He looked back up at Natsu in horror. 

“We need to leave now-”

“Leave? Why?”

Both of their heads turned to the kitchen door so fast, they almost hissed from whiplash. Meredy was standing there innocently, wondering what they were talking about. That was until her eyes glanced at what Lyon had in his hands. Her smile vanished and her eyes blazed with fury.

“You  _ IDIOT _ -”

“Babe, I can explain-”

“GO AND GET SOME MORE THEN!”

Lyon didn’t skip a beat as he grabbed Natsu to follow him. He picked up his keys and dodged out of the way of his girlfriend’s punch. Natsu groaned as he followed behind. “Why do I have to come for your stupid mistake?”

“Because I’m gonna be the one to be there with you when you start making these mistakes with Juvia.”

The said girl was walking down the stairs when she watched her boyfriend and friend making their way to the door. She tilted her head. “Where are you guys going?”

Natsu rolled his eyes as he pointed to Lyon. They were both sticking their shoes on. “Blame the second most annoying Fuckbuster. He’s only gone and eaten straight through Meredy’s chocolate stash.”

Juvia’s eyes almost bugged out of her head as she looked horrified. “You best go and buy every last bit of chocolate they own!”

Lyon practically whimpered as he nodded and he ran out of the door. “I know! C’mon, Fuckneel.”

“It doesn’t work like that when my last name doesn’t begin with F!”

"Fine, Dickneel then!"

He sighed and turned back to his girlfriend. They could hear shouting in the kitchen as Meredy was slamming everything down on the counter with an angry shout. “I CAN’T BELIEVE HE ATE EVERYTHING, THAT FUCKING PIG!”

Having lived with his mother and Wendy, Natsu knew  _ exactly  _ what was going on right now. He flinched at the sound of baking trays hitting the counter. He looked up at Juvia who didn’t even react, but only sigh and roll her eyes. She looked back at him as she was standing on the bottom step.

“You think you’ll be okay with her alone?”

“Juvia thinks she can handle her. Now go, Lyon-kun is waiting for you. Please don’t take too long.”

“We won’t, I promise. C’mere.”

He wrapped his arms around her body and held her close. Juvia giggled as he looked up at her and she ran her fingers through his hair lightly. The smell of chlorine no longer lingered on her skin. Instead, she smelt like wild berries in the ocean breeze. He breathed in deep, engraving her scent in his mind.

She bent her head down and he captured her lips. “I’ll be right back.”

“See you soon,” she whispered gently on his lips as he grinned at her and left the house when Lyon called out to him again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how was that chapter? I really hope you guys liked it, seeing as it was so rushed and unplanned. I'm sorry about that. Hope everyone's all good though! I also should have gotten this out earlier today, but I started writing another Navia story and I was on a roll, I couldn't stop. I hope this chapter appeases you all!
> 
> Please leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed it. Stay clean, safe and sane! I'm actually getting my vaccine like next week Thursday and I know some people have actually felt really rough from it. Mine's in the morning, so I hope I can get out the next chapter to you guys before it affects me!
> 
> Lolita-chan

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed that first story. I will updating this story every Thursday, any time of the day. I THINK I'll have 15 chapters, but that might change. I'll let you know if it does.  
> Thank you for reading so far! Stay clean, safe and sane!  
> Lolita-chan


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